


My World Surrounds You

by unknown_ceviche14



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Depressed Porco, F/M, Modern Era, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29980974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknown_ceviche14/pseuds/unknown_ceviche14
Summary: College is nothing but a bore for Porco right now, but when a new college student comes along, will it give him the thrill he needs?College AUEveryone here is 18+
Relationships: Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Levi Ackerman/Hange Zoë, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Pieck Finger/Porco Galliard, Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

Porco's P.O.V

"University of Liberio", a top-notch university with a graduation rate of 99%, or so they say. The university is so difficult and rigorous that most people resort to cheating and fraud to pass their years. Not like I blame them.  
I've even considered cheating myself but I don't think I've stooped that low ever since my second year. The school has gotten better, but a career in Engineering is way harder than I expected. My grades are barely on the edge when it comes to everything else that's not Math or Science.  
I would consider those two of my specialties. Even though this school is shady and suspicious, I would never imagine applying for any other.  
The school somehow provides you with many opportunities and connections afterschool which guarantees your career after graduation.  
Even if Medical Studies was my original plan, I can't imagine the time and money that takes while engineering is more a simple and quick way to earn money. People say to follow your dreams, but if my dream includes years of debt, I rather go for an easier, second option.

The university was wide, spacious, and welcoming. Any bystander would assume this college was filled with friendly, studious, and the "kids who will save the future" type. Well, they would find themselves truly mistaken.

The kids here have connections whose parents have powerful titles to bribe corruption. One doesn't achieve ideal grades, just pay them under the desk. For them, it's that simple. The heads of the school obviously don't care because they profit off it but kids who solely rely on grades can't risk a single bad grade unless they're ready to pay up.  
Unfortunately, most kids here rely on their parent's money, hence the high graduation rate but that backfires since the real world won't accept your bribes so easily. At the end of it, at least I'll be prepared for real life.

Since it was big and spacious, it took me a while to reach my first period, Science. It was my second favorite subject and one of the ones I succeed in the most. I took an advanced course since the general classes were too easy. 

Walking through the campus, it would seem that I was late or something since there were barely any students. It was surprisingly empty compared to other times. At this time, normally you would see students rushing to their classes, friends chatting with each other and some were cramming in some studying, but none of that today I supposed. Most likely there was a special event that required a good chunk amount of students to attend.

Most likely a football activity, which receives the most funding compared to any other sports. People have complained, but the administrators justify it because they are the pride of this school. Our football team excels compared to others, hence why the school funds it more than any other extracurricular club.

Pride my ass, they're a bunch of rotten people who use money as a pass. It normally wouldn't bother me but it frustrates me that my sport, basketball, is so underwhelmingly funded compared to football. It's not like they would budge so I decided to think about something else.  
I hate the punies on that team, especially the brawn, blonde guy name Reiner. My mind ticks off every time I hear his name. It would be better to get his name out of my head.

As I was walking, I didn't realize the closer I was arriving at my class was. The wide, gray door was awaiting me. I opened it to my favorite class of all, partly due to the teacher but also because as previously mentioned, I succeeded in it more than any other.

I took my seat and noticed there was a girl next to me I've never seen. Since it was a new semester, some students from other colleges transfer mid-year. It was a program the school offered to anyone who wanted to conclude their bachelor's here. It was an opportunity many anticipated, but not many were accepted in. If this new girl got accepted, she must have stellar grades or an overflowing amount of money. It's no task to overlook at.

When I sat down, I glanced at the girl to study her a bit more. The girl had black medium-length hair, a greek nose, very petite and slim with a tired look on her face. Nonetheless, she had a very relaxing aura about her, one that can soothe people. Not like the other girls, who only care about their one benefit and are very cunning in doing so.

I assumed she noticed me staring at her because she turned to me and smiled at me. I was a bit embarrassed because I was probably staring like a creep, but I gave her a little smile back. After that, I paid attention to class as I wouldn't want to miss something important that Mr. Yeagar talked about. He gets mad when you don't pay attention to his class.

The class went on for around twenty minutes, which mostly reviewed what we had previously learned. It was stuff I already knew so I looked around the class bored. I looked at the new girl who was sitting not so far, playing around and fidgeting with her pencil. 

Looks like she already knew this stuff too. I think I got too distracted by her looks because she made eye contact with me and I wouldn't budge. I soon realized and gave her an apologetic look. It took a while for Mr. Yeager to change the topic. Excited at first, but then realized I forgot my textbook at my dorm and by the time I went to retrieve it, it would be too late. I didn't want to look like a dumbass looking for something as basic as this, but I didn't know how I would pay attention. 

Shit! I cursed inside my head. It's not a big deal but Mr. Yeager really values responsibility and discipline, so the odds weren't in my favor. I didn't think I looked panicked but that wasn't the case as the new girl seemed to notice. 

"You look like your missing something important, I wouldn't mind if you borrow my textbook", she said in a sweet tone while offering her textbook. 

"A-are you sure, I wouldn't want to take yours". Shit, why am I stuttering? 

"Don't worry, I already learned about this section so it doesn't affect me." 

I decided to take her offer so I wouldn't get in trouble. I would make sure to return it after class. I didn't want to seem like an irresponsible person but I had no choice at his point.

"Thank you, I'll make sure to return it to you after class."

"Don't worry about it too much, but I would appreciate it if you returned it as I gave it to you."

I could see why. Her textbook looked well-maintain. I couldn't see a single scribble or write in it, but you could still notice it was used. Also common knowledge, these college textbooks cost a lot. They are extremely pricey, capitalism at its finest. 

The first period lasted twenty-five minutes reading the chapter, fifteen to review it, and a few minutes to answer questions before the bell dismissed us. Once that bell rang, everyone, as well as I, started to slowly gathered all my belongings with the textbook in my hand, so I could return it to the girl who lent it to me. I made sure to keep it in excellent condition because I felt really grateful. She really saved my ass out there 

I noticed the girl was already waiting outside the classroom assuming she was waiting for me to return her textbook. I saw this and immediately went to her locations. Once I arrived at where she was, she greeted me with a nice smile and waved to me. I handed her the book and she retrieved the book while simultaneously returning it to her bag.

"Uh, thank you for the book, I'll pay you back some other time", I said slightly nervous which I couldn't explain why. The girl was awfully pretty, but that's about I could tell her. 

"No need, I just wanted to help in any small way", she said in her soft tone that could easily hypnotize anybody. 

We kinda stood there in an awkward silence before I decided it would be best if I started heading to my succeeding period. 

"Well, I need to start heading to my next class or I'll be late," I said while giving her a little wave.

"Same for me, but before you go, could you please tell me your name?" she asked with a bit of curiosity.

"Porco Galliard, you?" I usually tell people to address me by my surname but I didn't have enough time or energy to explain.

"My name's Pieck Finger."

"Cool name. Well, I have to go. I guess I'll see you soon."

She didn't say anything back, just waved at me. I knew I was running late but I'm glad I got to at least figure out that girl's name. Pieck, definitely a unique name. Never heard of it before. That name ought to stick around this school. She'll eventually learn the true nature of this school.


	2. My World Surrounds You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of backstory :)

Porco's P.O.V

Second-period wasn't the best. I had to be stuck around with people I particularly didn't like. As mentioned previously, Reiner Braun. I had a deep resentment towards him. It's very complicated, I hate him more than he hates me. He doesn't bully me or insult me, in fact, he's in my friend group but we don't really talk to each other. Obviously, I'm friends with his friends but I have barely talked to him ever since Marcel died.

This all happened back in our first of college when my brother Marcel and Reiner were the best of friends. They would always hang around each other and Reiner would always come to our house to visit Marcel. They would do, say, and think everything together. You could already guess they were really close. 

Some people even confused Reiner as his brother instead of me because of their similar personalities. They were both proud, headstrong, bold, and a leader. They were considered the big brothers of our friends. 

I didn't mind them hanging around even though I would barely see my brother. If I had to admit, I was slightly jealous of their relationship. I would never have time with him because he was busy with Reiner, but I knew Marcel cared about me, he was my big brother after all. When we were younger, he would always make sure I was safe.

Until one night Marcel left the house on a Friday night mentioning to our mom that he would go drinking with Reiner. This wasn't anything abnormal. They would basically do this almost every weekend. They were big partiers along with Colt. Reiner and Colt would always get drunk and Marcel was in charge of taking them home since he was the only sober. 

My mom and I didn't mind as he was already an adult, he could drink as much as he wanted as long as he didn't commit anything illegal. That day was rarely normal, I was playing videogames because I usually didn't have time to do so since college took all my time.

While I was playing my games, time passed pretty fast and it was already 10 P.M at night. Naturally, my mom got a slight bit hectic because Marcel was back by this time, but I assured her that there was nothing to worry about. He maybe was having more fun and would be back soon.

That is until we got a phone call from an unknown phone number. I heard my mom talking on the phone when suddenly there was a loud thud. I ran downstairs to see what was happening.

She looked like she was preparing to go somewhere and the loud thud was caused by the phone. 

She then turned to me and said "Porco, your brother was in a car incident. Go get ready now." \

I remember quickly putting on my shoes and accompanying her to the hospital. The whole ride was quiet and none of us said a single word. I could tell that my mom was trying to keep strong and that at any moment she could break into tears, but she wouldn't let them out. In almost no time, we arrived. I myself didn't cry because I didn't know how serious this was. There was a chance he could die, but I was naive back then.

Both of us hurried out of the car and started to walk to the entrance. The front desk lady was there as if she awaited us. 

"Marcel Galliard is in room 309, though you'll have to wait for a while", she said in a monotone voice. My mom was so desperate, she went ahead. I followed her and gave the receptionist a quick nod in gratitude.

Once we arrived at the room, we saw Reiner there with tears in his eyes. He didn't look like his usual cheerful self. He had a lifeless face and was wallowing in self-pity. I didn't think he would be in the mood to talk so I just sat next to him and waiting for the results.

While sitting there, I think I started to realize how grave the situation was. Marcel could die. I know I didn't seem as close to him as Reiner, but he was still my brother. We have always been together before college. I would always look up to him and try to imitate him.

He would always help me make friends and try to get me out of my bubble. I noticed that I couldn't live without him. After that, all three of us were desperate and anxious to hear the results. While we were still waiting, Reiner spoke up.

"Hey Porco, if y-your brother doesn't come alive, I'm sorry"

"What are you talking about?"

"After drinking, we took a taxi 'cause we were both drunk", he took a quick pause.

"And mid-way through the drive, Marcel notice a driver speeding to my side, and he tried to shield me when the impact came."

Shock. That was all I could feel. I couldn't process this through my brain. Why would my brother protect this dude? Of course, my brother would protect him. He always wanted to be seen as someone reliable, but later would have known that got him into this incident. I knew I shouldn't have been mad at him, after all, it wasn't his fault, but I don't know why I felt a sense of hatred inciting in me.

I decided to cool down as if my anger would solve anything, We waited a while, somewhere around one and a half hours for the results. After much awaited time, we saw a doctor figure coming outside Marcel's room.

My mom immediately went to ask how her son was, and all I could see was a doctor with a very expressionless face. Dammit, I knew this couldn't be good.

"Galliard Family, I am sorry to inform this you, but has Marcel Galliard has officially passed away."

I was shocked. I knew this was coming but I couldn't help but feel surprised. I had still clanged on that hope that he would make it out alive. My mom finally broke and started bawling on the doctor's knees.

To my left, Reiner was sobbing quietly, I could tell he was taking it pretty hard. I on the other hand didn't know what I felt. I the blink of my eyes I could remember grabbing Reiner by the shirt and pinning him against the wall. I was furious, and it wasn't even his fault.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT"

I remember I kept fighting and insulting him until a crew had to detain me from beating him up even more. I got to admit, I beat him up pretty badly, but he deserved it. When I calmed down, I took a taxi and went back home. I didn't want to see anyone. And I did just that for a whole week. I barely ate and slept and didn't go to school for a whole week. I could easily go to school but the last person I wanted to see was Reiner.

All I could've thought was how we could've evaded the events that led up to this. But no. There isn't anything I could do now. I felt the worst type of feeling. I felt regret. Maybe if I had spent more time with him, I wouldn't be overflowing with regret. My regret and sorrow eventually left, but my hatred for Reiner never left.


	3. Chapter 3

Porco's P.O.V

After the second period, I had to go to Math. It was one of my favorite subjects for the sole reason of it being one of the easiest and most calming classes I’ve ever taken. I particularly excelled in this class, which was taught by Mr. Ackerman, Mikasa’s uncle.

He was a strict man and expected a lot from us but deep inside, I knew he was one of the teachers that prepared us the most. His ways of teachings were incredible. I could understand why he got hired into this school as a teacher.

He may not have the intelligence of Mr. Yeagar or Dr. Zoe, but his disciplinary skills easily exceed any of those on this campus. Although, keeping up with him was a difficult task. After a while of getting used to him, you’ll realize that your time management and your study habits will benefit you a lot.

In math, I shared the class with Jean and Marco. They were probably the calmest people in my class. They minded their business for the most part, except sometimes Jean will become a little aggressive with Eren, but it has decreased a lot since he’s met, Marco.

They really do love each other. I couldn’t imagine how one of them would react if the other were to be gone or disappear. It would truly tear the other apart. Both of them are big dorks, but I can’t help but feel jealousy towards them.

They are what you would call the ideal couple. Rarely fight and protect each other. It makes me wish I had someone like that by my side. 

You could see them always flirting together and cuddling, even comparing to Historia and Ymir. That says a lot. Even as I walked to the classroom door, I could see them silently flirting around with each other. I lowkey was praying that they wouldn’t get caught as Mr. Ackerman didn’t appreciate distractions in the classroom.

Although I really admired their relationship, it hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows. These two have truly been to shit and hell together, which makes them such a more powerful couple.

Back in our junior year of freshman, Marco and Jean officially camped out as a couple. Everyone in our group including Reiner, Annie, Historia, and Ymir knew they were gay. 

Unfortunately, it took a long time for Marco to come out due to his parents. Man, you should’ve known how terrified he was back then.

I honestly felt bad for him. We all told him that it would be fine and his dad would accept him nonetheless. Oh were we wrong, we honestly should’ve listened to him.

Marco took out advice and let me just say, it did not go out as planned. The next day, we were met with a crying Marco and a furious Jean.

Everyone was shocked. We knew it couldn’t have been that bad, but it had, even though it took him a while for him to tell us.

Everyone was worried. Marco had been crying for days, and when he told us we understood why.

Jean called us all after school to his house so he would explain. He told us Marco was finally ready to say what happened, and honestly I wished I never heard.

We learned that on the day he confessed to his parents, they lashed out at him. Marco thought it would be the most straightforward way to just say it at the dinner table.

A classic.

But once he confessed, he mentioned his Dad reaction in a horrid way. He started screaming, calling him the devil, and cursing where he went wrong. How did his son turn out like this?

His mother, to calm down the anger of her spouse, sent Marco to his room so he could calm down.

Marco explained he could vividly hear the entire conversation between his parents. He was truly afraid of what would come next.

It took around an hour for his mom to come back to his room. She told him to come downstairs as his dad wanted to chat with him.

When he arrived, his dad only asked one question.

“Are you going out with someone?”

Marco was planning on saying no but planned on telling the truth as lying would involve him in more problems.

“Yeah, I do,” he said shyly, scared of what would await him.

“Look son, I am thinking of giving you another chance, whether that be conversion therapy or punishing you,” he started and then took a pause.

“But the only thing I ask of you is for you to terminate the relationship with your so-called boyfriend, and if you dare defy me, I would like to bring to your attention that this will no longer be your home.”

“If you choose to be gay, go find another family that will accept you and your ways.”

With that, his dad left the room. He left his son crying on the couch. Crying. He didn’t feel liked he was loved, his only family betrayed him. The only person he thought of contacting was Jean.

Jean replied and Marco let his soul out. Marco rolled him the entire story and Jean was truly appalled. He felt like crying himself.

The only thing Jean managed to say was “Marco, go pack your things, you’re living with me.”

Marco cried with joy. Obviously, the pain was still there but knowing someone still loved and appreciated him gave him hope.

Jean was able to convince his mom of allowing Marco to live with them until they entered college. 

I wouldn’t expect anything different. Jean’s mother is known to be an angel. She was very accepting of Jean’s sexuality and lifestyles and I admired her for that, unlike Marco’s parents.

After he told us the entire story, you could’ve guessed the entire group was pissed, especially Ymir and Reiner.

They were so mad they were planning to burn his house. Good thing we were able to hold them back from doing so.

After a year, it looked like Marco already forgot the whole incident with his dad and moved on happily with Jean, or that’s what we thought.

I remembered in the summer of our Junior year. We got terrible news from Jean’s mom. She called us to say that Marco and Jean were in the hospital.

She was crying a lot and could barely get the words out of her mouth so we decided to just figure out ourselves when we got there.

When I say the entire group went, I meant it. No matter how busy we were, we dropped everything and drove as fast as we could to the hospital.

Ymir decided to pick us all up since her car could fit us all. Although everyone hates it when Ymir drives, no one really cares at the moment. At least she drives fast enough to get us their.

When we arrived, we learned that they were hate-crimed while they were walking peacefully, minding their own business through the streets.

We learned this from a bystander that actually called the police on them since neither of them was conscious to do it. Bertholdt was the name of the man.

A group of guys saw them holding hands and thought it was a good idea to start calling them slurs like you know what.

They were both offended but thought it would be best to just ignore it. Even Jean didn’t say anything as he was tired of being assaulted for his sexuality.

The group of guys were pissed that we’re being ignored so they decided to take it to another level. And when I mean another level, I mean they started to get physical. 

Bertholdt explained one of the guys started to attack Marco, he tried defending himself but since they were ganging up on him, it was hard to do so.

When Jean interfered, half of their group started to attack him. They both tried to protect themselves but it resulted to be hopeless since they were greatly outnumbered. 

They beat them up pretty badly. They would beat them with pipes and slashed them until they were completely unconscious. 

When Bertholdt was walking by, he was absolutely shocked at the scene in front of him. It was so brutal, he wanted to cry, but he knew he couldn’t waste any time, especially since their lives were in danger.

He called the police, which came with an ambulance along with them to take their bodies.

And he we are now. The doctor came outside to explain their diagnosis. He originally planned to tell only the mother since she was the legal guardian of both of them, but due to our pleas, he allowed us to hear it.

And what he said truly sent a gunshot through us. He said that both of them died multiple times and had to be revived many times.

After the many crucial surgeries he had to perform on them, he said that they were stable now, but had to stay in the hospital for at least a month before they would be discharged.

But the most important snippet of the story was the permanent side-effects that would linger on them until they died.

For Jean, he said that even though he would still be able to walk, he couldn’t be able to walk or run as well as he could before. If he were to find any difficulties, he might need to use crutches, and can sometimes find himself using a wheelchair.

For Marco, he suffered from severe burns, which the doctor indicates came from burning acid. His left eye was permanently burned, which rendered it useless. He could only see with one eye.

On top of that, some of his ribs were severely broken so they wouldn't be as strong as before.

Mrs. Kirstein started crying, along with Historia, Reiner, Bertholdt, and even Ymir. Annie and I were trying our best to continue stoical, but it was slowly failing. Everyone started sobbing for a good thirty to sixty minutes.

When we got over ourselves, we realized we had someone to be extremely grateful towards. Bertholdt. If it weren’t for him, they would've probably been dead by now. Mrs. Kirstein got on her knees while Berhtoldt was trying to cheer her up.

Everyone was so grateful that Reiner invited him out to dinner along with the rest. From that point was where Bertholdt became part of our friend group and close to us, especially Reiner.

Bertholdt was from Downtown Liberio, the same district where Pieck is from. He wasn’t living in the best conditions but he was living happily with his dad. 

His dad suffered from some type of cancer, which also made it harder for him to succeed at all. All the money he got went immediately to the treatment he was able to afford.

Unfortunately, Berhtoldt’s dad died quicker than he would be able to give him the treatment. His death left him in ruins, physically and mentally. His father’s social security allowed him to live in a some-what decent house, but now he was homeless.

This all happened while Marco and Jean were recuperating. Like them, Reiner and Bertholdt started dating. When Reiner figured out about the news, he allowed Bertholdt to live with him. Bertholdt was so grateful, he was motivated to find a job to provide his own food.

A few weeks later, Marco and Jean were released from the hospital. Everyone decided to celebrate as it had been a truly harsh and emotional summer. Especially for Jean, Marco, and Bertholdt.

We would be starting our Senior year in a few days, but it wasn’t over there. Marco still felt the effects of the incident. When he came back to school, everyone would make fun of his burnt eye and eyepatch. It affected him a lot; he even decided to end his life.

He sure is lucky we talked him out of it. Everyone was scared of what he was capable of doing. It took him over a year to feel completely secure with it.

And now I look at them in the classroom, being all playful with each other, glad they were able to overcome everything and move on.

After the fourth period, I started heading to the cafeteria because I was rather hungry. Due to the special events, the Cafeteria was way emptier than it usually was. It was quite a nice time not having to wait in line for an absurd amount of time just to get lunch. I just had to wait around four minutes for my lunch, which I honestly wish would happen everyday.

Probably not ever going to happen again, so might as well enjoy it. While I was serving my lunch, I noticed that the Pieck girl from earlier was sitting alone at a barren table. It could be because she was new, but I felt bad every time I saw her. On the other side, I saw my friend group which consisted of Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Jean, Marco, Ymir, and Historia. 

They would often hang around with another group which consisted of Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Connie,and Sasha. I usually hang around with them, but I didn’t feel like being in their chaos, so I decided to sit next to this Pieck girl. 

I honestly felt something about her that attracted me. She wasn’t obnoxiously loud as Eren or Reiner, but she wasn’t as shy as Bertholdt, Armin, and Marco. She was perceptive. You couldn’t really get anything away with her for she will notice. 

When I sat next to her, she seemed shocked for the slightest moment, but then her facial expression changed to a smile. 

“Oh, Pokko, what are you doing here?”

“P-pokko, where’d you get that name?”

“I thought it would be a cute name for you”.

I slightly blushed at the thought that this girl barely knew me but was already creating names for me. 

“So why’d you decide to come to sit here, I would imagine you have a group of friends that you hang around with”, she started. 

“I-i thought you’d be lonely so I came to accompany you to borrow your textbook”, I said.

“That’s very nice of you”, she replied.

We sat in awkward silence for a while. We weren’t really talking and were just eating our lunches instead. I observed her, she was very quiet and ate very patiently. I noticed she brought her own lunch instead of buying from the school’s lunch. Most people here buy lunch. Lunch is the only thing cheap in the whole school and it was pretty good too. I decided to ignore it because you shouldn’t judge someone based on what they're able to afford. 

“So now that we’re here, we might as well talk about something”

“Yeah, what do you want to talk about?”

“I guess I’ll try to learn more about you”

“What do you want to know?”

“Hmm, what do you specialize in?”

“I specialize in Engineering Physics”.

“That sounds really hard though it suits you.”

“Yeah and what about you?”

“I major in political science.”

“Why would you be interested in that?” I asked trying to not come out as rude but I was seriously curious.

“I’m interested in foreign and political affairs, so most likely a job for the government”

“Don’t you think that you could be working for a corrupt government?”

“I do know that, but it’s one of the best and most secure ways to obtain money”

“So your money-driven like me?”   
“I guess that’s one thing we have in common”

“You see, my dad has cancer, which as you know, requires a lot of money to sustain his chemotherapy. We could manage with a cheap treatment, but they weren’t the most reliable as they have scammed us plentiful times. The same thing with our insurance. Our insurance doesn’t cover many of the better hospitals but we can’t afford better insurance. 

On top of that, the only income we receive is from any part-time jobs I can require or the child support I receive from my mom after my parents divorced. But all that goes into paying for the basic things we need, and we are pretty much relying on the government to live. So yeah you could say I’m money-driven. 

Damn, and I thought paying for my brother’s medical bills was hard, I couldn’t imagine going through all that. I know many ungrateful children would just let their parents die because they saw them as a burden, but no, she is different. I couldn’t help but feel bad, but I’m guessing the last thing she would want is a pity. 

“I’m so sorry”. That was the only thing I could manage to say. 

“I don’t want to sound insensitive, but how did you manage to afford the school?” I asked.

“It’s simple, I got a scholarship”.

I was genuinely shocked, she must be really intelligent to be able to get a scholarship to this school. This school only must give out scholarships to really smart people. The school doesn’t really like to give any advantages to poor people because it will taint the school’s record. I was surprised at how she was able to obtain a scholarship, but I felt genuinely happy for her. 

“So Pokko, may I ask where you live?”

“I lived around eastern Liberio in some suburbs near here, but this year I decided I would live in a dorm.”

“What about you?” I didn’t want the question to come off as rude but I was genuinely curious about where she lived.

“I lived around downtown Liberio, so I live pretty far away from here”. 

I expected she was going to say downtown Liberio, my friend Bertholdt used to be from there before Reiner insisted that he move in with him. Downtown Liberio was known as the poorest around Liberio, and Liberio was huge. 

I didn’t realize how many similarities Pieck and Bertholdt had together. I wondered if it was something from downtown Liberio. 

Obviously, there is a big distance between the University of Liberio, but it’s only stationed where there is demand and people can afford it. It was relatively known as a rather dangerous place where no one really cared about visiting. Only people unfortunate to live there, stay there. 

The mayor pisses me off for that reason, he only ever invests in the richer and middle-class areas of Liberio. Makes it look like a rich county. For the majority, it is, but he totally neglects the poverty here as well. 

After finishing my lunch, the bell ranged, which meant I had to moved on and continue the day. I wasn’t able to talk more with Pieck but I do gotta admit I had an interesting conversation with her. I secretly hope we could talk like this again, she intrigued me a lot.


	4. My World Surrounds You

Porco’s P.O.V

The rest of the day was like any other, but the conversation I had with Pieck at least made my day a little more interesting. She had a very soft and delicate talking tone that I could listen to for hours. I honestly wish I could help her a bit but I know it’s not a good idea to stick your nose in other people’s businesses, and especially not trying to fix their problems even though it was tempting.

I guess I can try to make friends with her? It wouldn’t hurt at all, wouldn’t it? What am I saying, I’m not the type of person who makes friends, but she’s different? Unlike most people in my friend group who are loud, energetic, and chaotic, she is a mixture of them. Calm like Annie, but nice like Bertholdt and Armin. 

Since the day finished, and it was a Friday, I decided I deserved some time to myself to relax before another dread school-week came by. I was sincerely pumped about having time to myself but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. It’s almost like I couldn’t figure out how to use my leisure time.

After many seconds of debating on what to do, I came to the conclusion that I catch up with video games I never ever had time for when I’m in school. I honestly feel like playing Genshin. I haven’t played that game since last summer.

Honestly, I was anticipating my time alone. That is when a certain someone decided it would be funny to interrupt my ongoing happiness.

Reiner.

I heard a ring that was so loud and awkward. I wonder who would be texting me especially since no one barely texts me. 

I look to see the one and only Reiner texting. Why would he out of all people be texting me? We haven’t had a proper conversation in about two years or so, why was it different now?

Reiner: Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask if you want to meet me at a cafe or something in like an hour or so?

Why does he want me to meet him at a cafe? What could be so important that I have to take time out of my day to talk with him. 

I wanted to say no, but some part of me told me it was important. So me being the dumbass I am, I agreed.

Porco: Sure, 4:30 sounds good? Why do you want to meet me though?

Reiner: I just wanted to have a chat with you

Porco: Sure, see you then

Reiner: Ok, bye

I couldn’t figure what he wanted to speak about. Was it the incident about Marcel? That happened two years ago. We already fought, and personally, I don’t give two shits anymore. He could do whatever he wants with his life.

Or was it because I was ignoring him? He probably thought I hated him because we never talked like we used to. Was he offended by it? I guess I’ll figure it out in an hour.

An hour came by like nothing. I needed at least twenty minutes to be able to walk from my dorm to the cafe Reiner would be at, so I decided to leave a little early.

The walk to the cafe was nice if I had to admit so myself. We were already in winter, meaning it was starting to get chilly. Temperatures would drop and fewer people would be outside unless it was for the holiday season.

The only good thing Reiner did was his choice in coffee shops. That’s basically the only thing we have in common, our taste in coffee.

I finally reached the coffee. I opened the big crystal door to be awaited in a room of warmth. The heat was definitely turned on. I spotted Reiner all the way across from my position, sipping on a mug of black coffee from what it looked like. 

I kept my hands in my brown jacket and walked towards the cashier to order my coffee before I would have to converse with Reiner.

“Hello, what can I get for you?” asked the cashier. 

“Hi, I would like a Peppermint mocha.”

I didn’t know why I ordered that. The only thing I was ever in the mood for was a plain-black coffee, and maybe some creamer if I felt fancy. I guess I’m in the “holiday spirit.”

Since there weren’t many people before me, it only took a maximum of two minutes for my coffee to be ready. 

“An order for Galliard.” said the girl.

I went up and grabbed my drink, now having to encounter Reiner.

Reiner noticed when I was going to come. I didn’t think he would have to wait for that much, after all, I came at the time we compromised on.

“Porco, I’m glad you made it,” he said after I sat in my seat.

“Sure, so, what did you want to talk about?”

“Look man, I know you’re still upset about what happened but I want you to know I’m truly sorry. I wish you could forgive me so we can all hang out like we used to.” 

Man, I couldn’t expect the prideful Reiner can lower himself like this to be on good terms with me. I honestly thought our friendship didn’t impact him that much, that he didn’t care.

But he had a point. When the group was all together, we really lived our happiest lives. They gave me the excitement and happiness I’ve always wanted. 

We would sometimes do dumb stuff together, but we would always have fun, despite the issues we had to face altogether.

And if you were to ask me to be sincere, I would say I miss it. I enjoyed their company and the same everyone else could agree on. We have gotten through the worse together, and I feel like our connection broke off because I decided to make everything about myself.

I hated how I self-pitied myself. Yes, I had the right to be sad about my brother’s death, but does that mean I had the right to blame it on a specific person, no. I didn’t realize how selfish I was to find the closest person to Marcel and blame him.

And as much as I hate to admit it. I was being selfish and a pitiful human. No wonder no one wanted to hang around with me. All I did was play the victim, act like Reiner was the bad guy. Even though I acted like I didn’t care, I always deeply resented him.

But I didn’t realize how much I missed my friends. I missed the good times we had together. The death of one of our members broke us apart. Everyone slightly went their own ways and found new friends.

I think I found Pieck. She was the only one I actually talked to and someone that would support my pessimistic persona. As a friend, I appreciated her. She has given me that hope, if not directly, indirectly.

Reiner and Marcel have always been the leaders. I’m glad he’s the one who took initiative. If he didn’t, I don’t think I would ever realize how stupid I was acting. There some things I had to do to fix it.

“Thanks, Reiner. Thanks for making me realize how egocentric my attitude was. And...I’m sorry. I honestly want to go back like how it was.” I said with a low tone, but with a lot of genuine emotion in it.

“Porco, why don’t we continue talking outside while we walk, and if you want my opinion, I wish everything could go back to normal.”

We both cleaned our spaces and started to leave the now, crowded coffee shop. It is shocking how quickly a cafe can overcrowd.

When I opened the door, I was shocked by an immense cold breeze. Something I wasn’t used to for the past thirty minutes. I took a second to stabilize my mind before we started walking around town.  
“Continuing about what we were talking about, Porco I really miss you. Everyone misses you. We all noticed how quickly you isolated yourself from everyone when Marcel passed away, but everyone has tried their best to move on. So, the only thing I’m asking, and I speak on behalf of everyone, is to come back.” Reiner pleaded.

“Don’t worry, I want to come back. I have been pretty lonely you could say.” I responded.

“Yeah, we all have.” 

Reiner and I ended the conversation there. I gave him the answer he wanted, except this time, it came for my genuine thoughts. I actually wanted everything to go back to normal, but that doesn’t mean everything will be like high school.

I have made a new friend and I plan to hang around with her as well as them. We walked for a bit when I realized it would be best to return back to my dorm as it was getting late. I had spent a total of two hours already from 4:30 to 6:30.

“Reiner, I’m glad we could have this chat, but I gotta get home, bye,” I said while I turned the other way around, walking to the street that leads me to my dorm.

“I’m glad as well, take care, see you tomorrow, bye.” He gave me a little wave which I responded to.

I still had a lot of time for me to play Genshin, which was good. The game is one that I really enjoy. It helped me waste unnecessary time. 

I returned to the dorm flat, which again welcomed me with a comforting warm air which I’ll never get tired of. I walked towards the elevator, which led me to my floor, floor number 3. 

Funny how my room number is 309 just like my brother’s hospital room. I will always find it quite coincidental. Walking to my room, I noticed boxes in front of the room next to me. The door was open, so I wondered if anyone was inside the room. 

I supposed I was loitering for too long because the owner of the room came out. I quickly tried to act like I was opening my door so I didn’t seem like a creep, but I was surprised to figure out who the owner was.  
To my surprise, it was Pieck. I could see that Pieck was excited about seeing me, and I have to say, I was too. She ran up to me and hugged me. I’m assuming she is a very physical person. I don’t really like physical touch, but this one can slide.

“Hey Pokko, coincidence seeing you here.”

“Yeah, seems like I bump into you everywhere I go.”

“Aww, Pokko isn’t that a good thing though”, she said in a playful tone.

“Yeah...So, do you want me to help you with those?”

“Yes, If you don’t mind”

I told her I would leave my stuff in my room and afterward I would help her. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to start helping. I honestly thought I would come back home ready to play Genshin until I passed out but it looks like I got myself into another situation. 

People would most likely say that it was good that I was interacting with more people, especially my mom. She is one of the people that would go over the roof to hear that I made amends with Reiner and the rest and even made a new friend, Pieck.

I threw my keys and all the unnecessary stuff on a small dining table that was located near my kitchen. I only took my cell phone and my jacket as it was cold outside.

When I returned outside, we started by carrying the boxes inside. I noticed she had some issues with carrying the boxes as they were quite heavy, so I told her I would carry them for her.

I honestly regretted it, these boxes were heavy. Good thing she had fewer boxes than most people. Some people moved into their dorms as they were going to live here forever.

Once I carried them into the apartment, she instructed me to start taking out the stuff inside the boxes. I only took out the stuff and put the boxes to a side as I don’t know where she would want me to put this stuff.

Thanks to my luck, she didn’t have much so we only took around half an hour unpacking everything. Most of it was school-related stuff like textbooks, stationery, etc. Other things were basic utilities that were necessary. She didn’t seem to have any extra stuff other than the basics, obviously, considering her state, she couldn’t afford much. 

One of the boxes caught my eye as I was snooping around, it was the smallest box of them, which had pictures of her family. I never was the type to snoop around into other people’s stuff, but learning more about the mysterious girl started to become one of my priorities.

I skimmed the photos, there was a very common factor in all of them, she looked very strikingly a lot like her father. Dark hair, a hooked nose, soft eyes, and a slim frame. On the other hand, her mom didn’t have anything that looks like her daughter. 

Compared to her and her dad, her mom had this very serious and malicious look on her. She definitely didn’t fit the role of a loving and kind mother. As much as he was curious, he shouldn’t be snooping anymore than he has already, after all, he had just met this girl. 

Pieck had done the organizing part herself while Porco just sat there. When Pieck finished, she made something for Porco to eat since he had helped her with the unpacking. Pieck made him something simple and easy like a Greek salad since she herself was tired from all the organizing she had done. She serves the plates, once she sat down they ate as they did at the cafeteria, quiet and peaceful. 

“So Pokko, do you have any part-time jobs while at school?”

“Not anymore, I used to do a part-time job at Wendy’s throughout summer, but then quitted when I realized how hectic the third year of college was.” 

“I can understand why. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed juggling school and a part-time job simultaneously.”

“What part-time job do you work as?” I asked.

“I work as a bartender”

Damn, this girl gives me more surprises the more I know her. I’m not saying it’s a bad job, on the contrary, whoever says it honestly needs to mature, but I expected her to work at a retail store or a minimum-wage job. Never judge a book by its cover, they say.

“And why is that?” I hate asking her why every time she asks me something, but I’m genuinely curious why she is so odd, even though it made me more interested in her. She was like a never-ending encyclopedia of weird facts.

“I work as a bartender for a club chain that’s located in Western and Downtown Liberio. Those two areas are high in demand for alcohol, and as you know, where there’s demand, there is business.

“People go there every day just to escape from their shitty problems and realities, but never realize how much they waste on these beverages.”

“Especially in downtown Liberio, the bar is practically a coping mechanism and free therapy. It honestly adds up. Downtown Liberio is a low-income community. The majority of people there are food insecure and or living paycheck to paycheck.”

“They might as well go homeless from all the money they waste on alcohol, not like I’m the best of examples.”

I wonder what she meant by that. She was fairly young, maybe even just turning of age. I never could imagine her being one to drown herself in alcohol, but as I reminded myself, people live different lives and come from different pasts.

“Also a plus is the better customer service you offer, the probability of more tips is high. Most people that come to the bar a mentally-sick middle-aged men. They want a bartender who is young, pretty, with a decent figure, and an easy, submissive personality”

“I hate putting myself into that position, but my ambition will do anything for money.”

This girl really knows how to get her bank. Well, she really has no choice. It makes me have a slight feeling of pity, even though she wouldn’t want me to feel that way.

“Looks like you know the best ways to make a profit”.

“You could say so”, she said in a playful-confident tone. It made me chuckle a little bit. She was quite amusing, she wasn’t overly energetic, but at least had some humor. 

I finished the rest of the food she served. The salad was alright, she wasn’t particularly good at cooking but good enough to finish. 

I took my plate to the sink and started heading out the door. Tomorrow was part of the weekend, but talking with two human beings really drained my energy . For Pieck and my sake, I concluded our conversation to leave, even though I wanted to stay.

I thanked Pieck for all the food. I honestly wanted to stay a little bit longer, but both I and she were tired so I called it a day. Thank God, our rooms were abut to each other. I walked next door to my room to enter a bland, but enjoyable room. It was filled with the stuff I needed to survive and a few things that entertained myself, like my Genshin game that I wasn’t able to play today.

I was so ready to just go to sleep and fall asleep. I finally would be able to sleep more than eight hours today. Right when I landed on my bed, my loud phone started ringing.

Ugh! Who the fuck could be calling me late at night? 

I wanted to ignore it but the ringing wouldn't stop. No option but to check who it was. 

My Mom. Who else? She always calls at the most random moments of my life. I didn’t feel like talking to a third human being today, but if I didn’t answer, she would start victimizing herself.

I didn’t have a good excuse not to answer, and she would probably get mad at me. With all of my courage and tiredness, I decided to answer.

“Hello, mom”

“Hello Porco, how’s it going my son?”

“Good mom, just like any other day.”

“That’s very good, son, I hope you’re maintaining the good grades.”

“Yes mom, don’t worry, I’m not that dumb.”

“Okay, sweetie. I know it’s tough but I know I raised you well.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

“Oh, Porco, by the way, have you found a girlfriend already?”

For some reason, my mind instantly went to Pieck, but I had to clear that thought out of my head quickly. I didn’t like her, but she was the only girl I only ever interacted with other than Annie and Ymir.

“No mom, no one really interests me.”

“Awww, but there has to be someone.” She said while she kept annoying me. I honestly wished she would stop pushing it. You can’t force these things.

“No, but I did reunite with Reiner and the gang.” I wanted to get her mind off the girlfriend topic. 

“That’s great. I was honestly worried about how isolated you were becoming of your friends.”

“Have you made any new ones? You’re already in your third year of college, and I don’t think you have made any new friends so far.” 

“I mean, a new girl came this year, and we kinda became friends I guess.” 

Holy crap, I shouldn’t have mentioned the word girl. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep and here I was, causing more problems for myself.

“Eeeek! You never know, she might have the hots for you and you might even find your first girlfriend.”

If you asked me to tell her what she said after that, I couldn’t tell you. I was too mentally tired to pay attention. 

“What’s her name?” 

She really wants to continue this game, huh?

“Pieck”

“Interesting, I definitely never heard of that name before.”

“That’s exactly what I thought when she told me.”

“Is she from here? That sounds like a foreign name.”

“Yeah, she’s from here.”

I tried with all of my leftover courage to tell her I was tired to the bone. Thank god she hung up so I could finally go to sleep. I’ll never admit it, but I feel grateful that there is someone calling me, which doesn’t make me feel so lonely, even if it’s my annoying mother.


	5. My World Surrounds You

Pieck’s P.O.V

I don’t know what it was about Porco that made him so interesting. From a bystander’s point of view, he was as simple as it could get. I couldn’t lie, he was attractive. He was tall, muscular, and had a nice sense of style, but what I liked most about him was his personality. He didn’t seem to care about what other people thought of him. 

He also didn’t seem t be like those annoying guys who are misogynistic, racist, and homophobic. He had a caring persona inside his calm and strong front. He was nice enough to help me with those heavy boxes even though he just met me.

I honestly felt embarrassed for only giving him a simple salad for all the hard work I made him do yesterday, but I, myself didn’t have enough energy to prepare something fancy on spot. 

It only has been a few days, and I already started noticing things about this new college I attend now. 

I realized people of this new university are very judgemental, though not as judgemental as people from my previous college. In fact, here the people seemed at least friendly, there, it’s more about survival than anything else. 

*Flashback*

My dad was ethnically Eldian and my mom was ethnically Marleyan. This made me a mixed child, but it looked like my father’s genes. I was born in Eldia, a nation bordering the nation of Marley. Eldia was a slightly poorer country than Marley, but honestly, the best moments I ever had were in Eldia.

My dad has always been a poor man, poor when he met my mom and poor present-day. That doesn’t symbolize his worth tho. My dad was and is extremely hard-working and a loving dad. He was a great cook, unlike me, and would always make me traditional Eldian cuisine, which I adored.

My dad was living a happy and peaceful life in Eldia. He would’ve never thought about moving to a different nation as he was really content with his life there. He had his family, traditions, and everything he was used to there.  
Maybe he wasn’t the richest person on earth, but he was content. He always told me that I shouldn’t worry about money that much as it doesn’t define my worth, but to some people, it does. 

That was until he met my mom. My mom is a Marleyan, born and raised in Marley. Her parents really didn’t care about nations outside of Marley, so when she visited Eldia for the first time, she was shocked.

My dad would always talk about how she would complain about the cultural differences but he brushed it off saying it was because she wasn’t used to it.

On her trip to Eldia, she met my dad. My dad had multiple jobs and one of them was a tour guide. In one of the tours she signed up for, he was assigned to her group. He claimed it was love at first sight, even though I don’t believe in that bullshit.

They both fell in love with each other and she would constantly come back to him and follow him as his job. I found her behavior weird, but to my dad, it appears not.

Like every love story, they fell in love and all that. After a while, my mom went back to her homeland but soon returned to be with my dad. At her second stay, he proposed, to which she gladly agreed.

They got married on a beach with as few people as possible. Close family and family friends were the only people invited. He said it was one of the best moments in his life and what he would give up to go back to that time.

Not even a month later, my mom had already been diagnosed pregnant with me. She always would bring up how much of a struggle it was during her pregnancy and when I was born in August, she was relieved. Relieved, not happy.

I lived in Eldia for the first ten years of my life. I went to elementary and a little bit of middle school there. I really enjoyed it there. The people there were nothing like the people here. In Eldia, people were really friendly and outgoing, compared to here, people are judgemental and rude. They always have some sort of problem with you.

I remembered that my mom wanted our whole family to move to Marley with her, despite the complaints of me and my dad. Neither I nor my dad wanted to move to Eldia. We were content in our house and our community.

It took time, but my mom convinced my dad eventually. She said how Eldia was dangerous and how it wasn’t a good place for us to stay. She also mentioned that we would live a safer and happier life there. Bullshit.

Though, for my dad, it wasn’t. Since he was head over heels for her, he would do anything she commanded. So, with that, he told me to start packing my bags as we would be moving in designated June. 

June came, and as much as I was sad, I couldn’t say anything or do anything to prevent it. I would miss all my friends but what could I do? My friends promised they would text me, but to this day, none of them have. I don’t blame them, why would they contact someone that lived another nation away?

I think the thing that shocked me the most was when I entered school. The people at my school were stuck up and rude. I don’t even remember if I had a real friend or not throughout my entire year at school. People were very fake, and even if I didn’t like it, you start getting accustomed to it.

My friends would come and go, not that I mind, it taught me to be independent and not to rely on other people for personal happiness, but you’ll eventually get tired of it.

We lived a fine life, or so I thought. I believed everything my mom said until the moment that made me realize everything she said wasn’t the truth. The moment when you realize not all what your parent says is accurate.

It was when I was thirteen, the turning point for it all when my mom left us in ruins.

She was tired. She was tired that we couldn’t afford what she wanted. Though, we couldn’t help it. We were poor, we lived in the poorest community, with a job that barely could sustain us economically. 

I didn’t understand why she made us move here in the first place. She promised we would have an ideal life, but it looks like we had a better life back home than here. The worst part, she was complaining to us about her mistake.

Dad was a blue-collar worker and he worked overtime just to give us shelter and food. I didn’t have much, but I had love from my parents, well from my dad at least. My mom didn’t give two shits about us, but I never thought about it until she left.

She went off to do her own issues, and any money she would obtain was never invested in the family. She was paying for her own lusts and left us to rot in the ruins.

This led to conflicts arising between my parents. My dad tried to ignore her foolishness, but when it started to affect us, he seriously got aggravated. I don’t believe he has ever been so mad in his entire life, but it was completely understandable. If I were in his shoes, I would’ve done the same thing. Every day, no matter what, they would always find something to fight about. 

There were screams, clashes, thuds, and even heard some cries. My mom would always make herself the victim and that infuriated me most of anything. She makes it seem like it was our fault for putting her in borderline-poverty. 

My mom would always scream about how she should’ve married with more money and that she shouldn’t marry a bum like my dad. Everyday. She would always insult my dad every day. Bum. Filthy. Hobo. Beggar. The same words repeated every single day until I was about done. I couldn’t withstand it anymore. I wanted to punch that bitch in the face.

But when she brought his race and mine, that’s where I crossed the line.

“AND WHAT IF HE IS A BEGGAR, YOUR BASICALLY TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON HIM”, my dumbass self screamed at her. 

“WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU LITTLE BITCH!” She says right back to me.

We got into a heated argument, but I wouldn’t stop. I was tired of her shit. I was tired of her taking my dad for granted, wasting his money as if it grew from trees. My dad works hard to provide for us and all she could do was complain. 

Insults escalated into screams, which soon escalated to physical fights. She wasn’t much taller than me or bigger, so I believed I could obtain the upper hand. She grabbed me by the hair and slammed me against the wall. A large thud.

I maintained well until she slammed my head. Luckily, I didn’t suffer through any brain damage, just a mild concussion. I didn’t care that much, but my dad was furious, it was the first time he had ever hit a woman he said. He grabbed my mom and punched her in the face. She deserved it though. The funny thing was I was more worried about legal affairs afterward than if he would get hurt. 

I left. I knew that was selfish, but I didn’t want any more fights with my mom. I really didn’t love her anymore. It’s not like she loved my dad or me. She only cared about herself. I always felt sorry for my dad for I was a coward. I couldn’t stand seeing her face, but leaving her wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. My dad said that if they were to separate, there is a risk of her winning custody over me. That’s the last thing he or I would’ve ever wanted. I rather live with him and see her once a while than being stuck with her alone. 

My mom made it clear she didn’t want to be with either of us. She took off on her own, wasting my dad’s money and using it for her own lust. She would eventually find a richer man that seemed to hang out with her in that bar she would escape to. We could tell she was planning to leave us. 

The bar she worked in gave her a decent salary, though what was the point if she only ever used it on herself. Not like we needed her money.

But eventually, we did.

A year after the conflicts arising and the negligence on her part, dad developed cancer. Leukemia to be exact. Dad didn’t think it would be that bad, so he continued to work his job. He said everything would be alright and that he would be taking it easy.

But oh boy how he underestimated it. His work took a big toll on his body, and eventually, it caught him. Either way, you don’t see a construction worker with cancer working at it every day. He was fatigued, and it was very noticeable. I would help him as much as I could, but handling school and a sick father wasn’t the easiest of tasks. 

If my mom would have helped, I’m sure we could have gotten out through all of this, but that son of a bitch didn’t even shed him a second glance. 

She took this opportunity to leave. She explained that the rich dude she had met at the bar could provide her with more than any of us could. No more words were spoken, and she grabbed her stuff and left. I could tell dad was sad, but simultaneously, I could feel his sense of freedom from her. I shared that feeling too. 

We were finally free from the women who could easily control us.  
We relaxed a moment in silence in the living room on that day. The silence was nice, but it was about the time when we would realize what was next.

Fuck!

The divorce took practically all the money we had left. It was getting extremely difficult to pay all those bills so I had no choice but to get a job. At that time, I finally turned fourteen, and even though my dad wasn’t on board with the fact that I was to work at such a young age, he had no choice but to give me permission.

With my job, I was able to pay for most of the basic things we needed. We obviously had to apply for government assistance as a part-time job couldn’t pay anything. We were basically living on the edge. But we made it through. 

It wasn’t long until we were obligated to find affordable healthcare. Cancer was expensive, but it was necessary if I wanted my dad to live. But it was hard. Most of the healthcares cost way off our budget, no one would give us loans. It’s not like they could afford to give it to us in this area. We searched and searched but nothing came. My dad couldn’t do anything due to his condition. I know he felt bad but he couldn’t do anything. 

After much awaited time, we happened to cross upon a healthcare that would suit us best. It was extremely cheap, which seemed too good to be true. I knew better than to accept anything sketchy, but at that point, I was extremely desperate.

My intuition was right, it turned out to be a scam. I was frustrated. I knew what I was getting into but I still latched onto the hope that what they advertised was true. I have never felt worse than that day I brought us into more debt.

But what were you expecting? I was a teenager dealing with the departure of my mother and I was already handling the financial issues of our family. I had to pay for the treatment, but at the same time, I had to work to find income to pay it with.

That was our lowest point economically. We gave up almost everything to pay off that debt, but we eventually paid it off. Food became an option instead of a necessity. Basic materials for the school were an automatic no.

I had to save up as much money as possible. Probably that’s why my father and I became so scrawny and gaunt because the food was so scarce. On the worst days, I would go hungry for days.

I never want to return to that state.

Through all of our hard work, we managed to pay it off. Though we were relieved to have finally paid it off, we almost went homeless because of that. 

I had to work an extra part-time job which didn’t allow me any time to study. Grades were also as important because it was the only way I could succeed in the future and get my father out of this poor community and give him the proper attention he needs

All the time I had in school was when I would study, knowing well I couldn’t afford time when I arrived home. Once I arrived home, it was straight to working my part-time jobs. I always had to be careful about my connections as they could affect me in the long run.

During the period where we were paying debt, my grades had gone unusually low. I was always a smart kid with good grades, but I didn’t have time to study. After we paid that off, I easily brought it back up. This time I would only be working one part-time job instead of two.

Another issue was education. I could easily finish middle school and high school because they were public funding but college was going to be a problem. Most colleges here could meet our budget but they are mediocre schools at best. 

I wanted to at least get into a better school in a safer part of Liberio. So I decided to apply to the University of Liberio because they were looking for a lot of able applicants. And with that, I decided to apply for a scholarship since it was quite an expensive school. 

I was scared of my results. The only thing I could clutch to was my good grades since we didn’t have money to pay for any extra activities or the tuition in general. 

I knew I wasn’t going to get accepted as schools look a lot for other activities you participate in. That can be a personal activity or a community act. I didn’t have the luxury or time to afford extracurricular activities.

I wasn’t dumb though. I applied for financial aid too. There couldn’t be a way they would neglect my financial aid, my story was too good and too realistic. If they were to reject me, I would mentally call them classists.

I waited for a long time, but it eventually arrived. It got accepted by both. The scholarship paid half of my tuition and the financial aid paid the difference. I was extremely excited. All my hard work paid for something, and if I could graduate, it is almost guaranteed I can obtain a job that allows me and my dad to escape our financial crisis.

I showed him the letter, he was proud. I was glad. I knew he was the one who truly loved me out of both of my parents. He always took care of me and gave me the best he could, unlike my mom.

That’s why when he said he was proud of me, honestly, I was proud of myself too.


	6. My World Surrounds You

Pieck’s P.O.V

Man, I couldn’t stress enough how grateful I was that Porco helped me with my stuff on Friday. Friday was such a tiring day and I never expected how many things I had. I didn’t think I had enough money to afford it in the first place.

I’m so lucky Porco helped me unpacked all my things yesterday night. If not, I don’t I wouldn't be able to accomplish all of it. I would’ve still had some shit laying around here and there.

I probably wouldn’t have gotten a new pair to break the cycle of the same clothes I’ve been wearing for the past four days. I finally got time to be able to have new clothes to wear.

Today was going to be another stressful day at school, but it's something you have to get used to. I have only been here for a few days, and it was extremely packed. After all, colleges from a prestigious area are sure to have higher standards than those located in my area. 

In my old college, you could manage to get away with anything except murderer probably, but I even doubt that. There are a bunch of kids that have done criminal activities who attended that school. It goes to show they’ll accept anybody for profit.

Kids that went there only went for the diploma, but I’m guessing they barely learn anything so far. I tried to learn what I could grasp, even though I knew that this school wouldn’t get me anywhere. What I did know was that I could go to another school with the minuscule information they taught me. 

The teachers aren't paid enough to care. They just teach the material and the students can screw their lives how they wanted afterward. There wasn’t any enforcement of discipline, hence explains why no one who graduated from the college became successful. 

I’m relieved I managed to be able to leave the college for good. Who knows? I might return when I retire to teach there. Nevermind, I don’t want to go back to the place I tried so hard to leave and avoid. 

As I got ready to head out of my dorm, I noticed the gloomy atmosphere the sky was giving. I presumed it was going to rain today, so I made a decision to bring my umbrella with me. It's good to always be prepared I guess. 

I noticed Porco’s apartment room was off, assuming he already went ahead of me. This prompted me to speed-walk so I could arrive earlier at the campus. I wanted to have some time to spare and talk to Porco. I genuinely enjoyed talking to him, and it seems so vice-versa. I wish he would at least consider me as his friend. 

Not like I would admit it, but spending time with him gives me a sense of comfort and optimism. He is a little stubborn and rough, but deep inside, he has a caring and kind heart. My goal would have to be to open up his soft spot. I’ll add that to a list of my objectives this year.

After a ten-minute walk, I finally found myself inside the campus. As I predicted, it started raining mid-way, so I had to get my umbrella and run to shorten the time I would be out in the rain. I made it eventually and didn’t even get as wet as I expected. Good thing I brought the umbrella when I did. I’ll have to thank my great sense of judgment for that. 

I started getting my stuff ready for the first period. I wasn’t able to find Porco anywhere, but I knew I had him for Science, which means, I would have a chance to talk to him during class. That is if Mr. Yeagar allowed us a small break. Either way, I could try to talk with him in the cafeteria like we did in the cafeteria last week.

And as I already knew, I noticed Porco when I entered the classroom. The class had already started since I came in late due to the rain and also that I don’t have any transportation of my own. I could see Porco’s expression change when I walked in. It was almost like a relieved and excited face but soon chose to hide it into a calm one. 

I walked in and excused myself for arriving late. I went straight towards my desk as Mr. Yeagar resumed the lesson. People say it's not a good idea to miss any portion of a class. They say it takes a lot of effort to catch up because the curriculum is taught very fast. This one of the things I should probably take into consideration as I learn about this school. 

I silently took a seat and prepared my materials for the remainder of the class period. There wasn’t much to take out because I had missed almost half of the class. I could tell that today’s class wasn’t that material-based. It bored me a little bit. I decided to look over to my side to see what Porco was doing. By the look of his face, I could tell he had something on his mind. His face then turned and made eye contact with me.

Since we obviously weren’t able to talk in class, he kinda started to make gestures. He gave a slight shrug and rose his head quickly. I took this as “why were you late?” I slowly pointed my head towards the window, indicating that the weather was the reason why I was tardy. He quickly nodded and turned back to his desk as it looked like Mr. Yeagar started to explain something new. 

“Well now that we finally reviewed our previous chapter, we now do something different. I will instruct you on a project that all of you are required to finish two weeks from today. Don’t worry, it’s just a simple research paper, but it will be counted for a project grade. Remember, project grades are 50% of your overall grade, so you should take this very seriously nonetheless.”

He took a quick pause.

“The only catch is that you’ll also be required to complete it with a partner of your choosing in this class. You and your partner are permitted to have different opinions, but you’ll be assessed on how well you expressed them. After I finish explaining, you can choose a partner and come up to my desk to choose a topic. Understand?”

I understand it, and so does everybody else. As soon as he finished explaining the instructions, Porco and I immediately looked at each other and gave each other a slight nod. I don’t think we knew anyone else but each other so it was convenient that we worked with each other. While Mr. Yeagar was answering questions, I looked around to see the different types of people. I could see some were already pairing up and others were having difficulties. 

On one side, I saw a tall girl with short black hair paired up with a slightly shorter guy with blonde hair. I’ve seen them quite a lot, especially the black-haired girl. Mikasa I think was her name. She usually doesn’t hang out with many people, but from what I’ve heard, she is at the top for sports. Especially Martial Arts.

She is incredibly strong and athletic, from what I've heard. Her blonde friend, Armin was it? He ranks high in academics and is known to be one of the smartest students in the entire school. From observing them, I know they hang around with Mr. Yeagar’s younger half-brother, Eren. 

He is pretty average in everything, but I’m guessing he is able to be in the school because his brother is part of the staff. Eren is pretty popular around here, so I’ve definitely heard about him a lot. 

He has a lot of issues, and he always gets into trouble with other classmates, which results in Mikasa always saving his ass. She practically follows him wherever he goes, but I won’t judge maybe because she has her reasons. 

Call me a bit stalkerish, but their group prompted me to learn about them. Most of the information I’ve obtained is from Porco. He tells me that Eren and his group will almost always hang out together. 

Sometimes, people from his group will talk to people from Eren’s, and depending on who gets together, it could end up in chaos. He mentioned people like Eren, Reiner, Connie, Sasha, and Jean start the chaos. 

From the people he mentioned, I have definitely seen some are in the same classes as I am. For literature, I have Eren and Jean, who usually cause discord in the middle of class. They hate each other they say but I don’t seriously think it’s that serious.

Eren and Jean were both extremely tall. Easily exceeding six-foot, but they weren’t exactly intimidating. Sure, Eren might have a huge resting bitch face and acts a little emo but he doesn’t look like he could do much.

If I had to admit, Jean was quite attractive but not as attractive as Porco in my opinion. Though Jean was way taller than Porco. I thought Porco was tall, but comparing him to all of his friends, it’s not as noticeable.

Also Jean was gay.

In Math, I have Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie. These three were half of Porco’s old group back in high school. He didn’t mention much about them and it doesn’t look like they hang around a lot anymore. I wonder what could’ve happened between them.

Shockingly, during the small break we had in class, they came up to me to introduce themselves. I’m assuming this was because I was friends with Porco. I was slightly intimidated at first by them because of their height. They were extremely tall and muscular.

Well….all except Annie, but she was still terrifying, and just because she was short doesn’t mean she couldn’t punch.

I figured Reiner and Porco have known each other since they were young, but they don’t really talk that much from what I noticed, though he didn’t explain why. Maybe he’ll make up with him for whatever the reason was.

The only thing that was never explained or mentioned at all was how Bertholdt became friends with them, and as much as I was curious, I didn’t want to push it. After all, they would have a bad impression on me.

Annie didn’t say much about her relationship with the others or about herself in that matter, but I already had much information about her anyways. She may not be popular but she was definitely well-known here.

She is a very strong fighter, usually on par with Mikasa, which means they fight regularly. I remembered Porco also mentioned that she came from a well-established and known family in this area. The Leonhardt’s. I have definitely heard that surname before. It was one of the most well-known families in Liberio due to their Martial Arts business across the city. 

Mr. Leonhardt was very well-known here especially. In Marley, martial arts wasn’t that known around here until Mr. Leonhart founded an institution to teach it. In many articles, he says he learned the technique when he visited Hizuru, a some-what far away Eastern nation.

His special type of arts originated from Hizuru. Ever since he shared the art with Liberio, it became very popular and common to practice it. This includes Annie.

Now that I remember it, I think Mikasa’s family comes from Hizuru. I wonder if she ever visited herself. I would love to visit it one day. I’ve read a lot about it back when I lived in Eldia, it has amazing culture and food.

Then in my German class, I figured out another couple of the group also attended my class, Ymir and Historia. 

They were very flirty during class, but I mean extremely flirty, which the teacher would often reprimand them, but Historia was the daughter of the principal, so they couldn’t go too overboard. 

While everyone found their flirting disturbing, I honestly found it cute. It took me a while to realize but these two were the other half of Porco’s group, but it looks like they have been dating for a long time now.

Historia came over to me and was pulling Ymir alongside with her to introduce herself. Could it be because I was new? I’m honestly appreciating their kindness as this school offers none. 

Historia was very short but kind. She had medium-length, healthy, blonde hair and big blue eyes. She honestly looked like a goddess. No wonder why every boy and girl wants a taste of her.  
Too bad for them, her girlfriend looked like she wasn’t sharing anytime soon. She was also very scary like almost the rest of their group.

Historia came over to my desk and offered her help if I ever needed something. She mentioned that she was part of the Reiss family, the family that owns this school. Mental note to never mess with her. 

“So Pieck was it? Have you made any other friends besides Porco?” she asked.

“No, not yet, but there ought to be someone. Either way, I keep myself quite entertain with Porco.” 

“Well, I’m more than happy to be friends with you. You seem really cool,” she offered.

At first, I was totally on board. Her parents had a lot of power, not only in the school but also in the city for owning the school. One wrong move and I’ll screw up her life and mine. 

Even though I hesitated, I still agreed as she really was a kind girl but also very bold, fierce, and headstrong.

“Sure, feel free to hang around with me whenever you want.”

While we were chatting for a bit, a girl came up to her.

She was a very tall, tanned, freckled girl with a calm but also a sorta aggressive demeanor. I tried to not take it too personally.

“Ymir, meet my new friend, Pieck,” Historia introduced me to her girlfriend.

“Pieck huh? I’m guessing you’re not from here,” she asked.

“You got it. I’m actually from Eldia, though I have some Marleyan blood in me as well.” 

“No way!” they both talk-shouted in unison. 

I was sorta confused by their reaction.

“Um, yeah, is there a problem?”

“No, it's not that, but we're both Eldians as well,” Ymir said in joy.

She quickly changed her aura, didn’t she? But I was glad I was able to find another Eldian here. I wondered if anyone else was an Eldian in their friend group.

“I'm so happy I found another one of us!” exclaimed Historia.

“Yeah, I haven’t met another Eldian ever since I was Eldia.”

“Same, we only have a few. There aren’t that many around here.”

I wanted to know what part they were from.

“So, what part are you from?” I asked.

“Oh, I was born here, but my entire family is pure Eldian, they kinda want to keep the Eldian bloodline complete in my family, that’s why they allowed me to date Ymir,” replied Historia.

“That’s cool. It must be hard keeping the bloodline pure when we’re dead smack in a country full of Marleyans,” I said.

“What about you Ymir?” 

“I don’t remember anything at all actually. I was an orphan there, in which they sent me to another orphanage here. I can just tell you what they’ve told me, but all I’m sure of is that I’m Eldian.” she said.

We kept on talking until class concluded. Honestly, talking with those two was such a blast. Ymir was funny, sarcastic, but you could tell she was a caring person. And Historia surprised me the most out of all of them.

Rumors always made me believe that she was some cute, shy, innocent, dumb kid, but was I mistaken. That woman was witty, smart, funny, and nice. She could also flip you if she wanted. I’m guessing her father wants to put that stupid image on his daughter to please people of the older generation.

It took a while, but it was finally my final class, Language Arts. I had Jean and Marco. If anyone could compete to the amount of flirting Ymir and Historia could do, they definitely were catching up to them.  
They seemed really close together and I have to admit, I was envious of their relationship. Jean was being really loud and talking with a lot of other classmates, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but I got partnered up with Marco for a small classwork activity.

Marco was very kind and was very smart too. He helped me and taught me a lot about the subject. I honestly thought I was ahead of everyone else because of all the extra studying I did over the summer but turns out people here attend this school for a reason.

We were both pretty smart, so naturally we finished before most of the others in the class. I guess it gave us time to chat, or that was what Marco thought anyways. He decided to initiate a chat, though I hope he doesn’t ask where I’m from and my entire life story likes others. 

It’s kinda a hassle and problem for me to tell them where I’m from and how I got here.

“Pieck, how’s the university treating you so far?” he asked. 

Finally. Someone with a different topic starter.

“Stressful, but I ought to get used to it eventually.”

“I hear you. When I joined here with Jean I was shocked at how it was at a completely different level than my previous schools.”

“It’s amazing how hard it gets, they don’t even care about slow beginnings nor none like that.”

It kinda became awkward. There wasn’t really anything else we could talk about so we just kept silent. It was perturbing me so I brought in the most random topic to chat about.

“Marco, do you know Porco?”

“Yeah, we and Jean used to be cronies back in high school.”

Really? I only remember Porco mentioning Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Ymir, and Historia as part of his group. I never once heard him once talk about Jean or Marco. Could he have his reasons to not say anything?

“How was Porco like back in high school?” I asked to see if he was any different back then.

“Porco? Um, he was normal. He hasn’t really changed that much, but at the end of senior year, he sorta isolated himself from us. It took him a while for him to come back too.”

“We went through some tough shit in high school, everyone.”

I wonder what he meant from that context. Nothing important to me. Whatever this “tough shit” was, I didn’t want to remind him of the subject, so I slowly but cautiously changed the subject.”

Turns out I didn’t have to do anything as the bell dismissed us. We both were startled by the bell, but it at least interrupted the awkward silence between us.

“O-oh Pieck, guess we have to leave. I can accompany you outside of class.”

“Sure.”

We walked towards the entrance of the class. When we got there, I noticed a man, who I assumed was Jean, was waiting for Marco.

Marco went immediately towards him and Jean slung his arm around his shoulders. It was quite a cute view.

“Jean, this is Pieck everyone has been talking about,” Marco told his boyfriend.

“Oh, so you’re the new girl Porco has been talking about.”

I slightly blushed. I couldn’t believe Porco was talking about me. I mean, what did he know about me to tell. That I was a bartender? I don’t think I’ve told him a lot about me anyways. He was becoming more mysterious by the second.

“I guess so, and you’re Jean, am I correct?” 

“Hell yeah, the one and only Kirstein,” he said.

As much as he was maintaining a decent conversation with his overexerting confidence. Mr. Ackerman already came out of his class to remind us that we needed to go to our classes. 

“Hey, brats, get to class already or you’ll all be punished!” he shouted at us.

We took the hint. We didn’t want to mess around with Mr. Ackerman.  
“Well guys, I’ll see you around,” I waved to them as I started to part ways from them.

“Same to you,” Jean said while grabbing Marco’s arm and dragging him to their next class.

As I was walking, there was only one conclusion I came up with. 

“From here on out, things will finally get interesting,” I mumbled under my breath.


	7. My World Surrounds You

Pieck’s P.O.V

A month has already passed by and I was able to learn a lot about these people that surrounded the life of Porco. There were many kinds of people. At lunchtime, people with similar personalities would hang around, but after that, they combine with their own duo. 

For example, Jean, Eren, and Reiner were all very aggressive and loud. In lunch, they would often initiate the most chaos and generate the most fights. But after lunch, Jean would hang out with Maco, Reiner with Bertholdt, and Eren with Armin.

Each duo had a very similar pattern. 

Two completely opposite personalities complement each other. Very interesting. I wonder who could be my opposing personality. Would I meet them soon?

Normally, I would’ve had science straight off to start the morning, but Mr. Yeagar offered us a study hall. Thank God. I have barely any time to study.

He forced us to take advantage of the time as he rarely could allow us to give us this privilege, and he meant it. I think on average, the teachers here give you around one study hall per year. 

Mr. Ackerman never gives us any study halls, on the contrary, Dr. Zoe gave us an estimated five. Way more than what any other teacher gives us.

I imagined how many people would go to the study hall. Do people take advantage of any opportunity here, or are they that smart that it is not necessary for them? Let’s see.

I entered the designated room, and I was shocked. Definitely not like I expected. Barren. That was the only way to describe the room at the moment, completely barren.

It was almost completely covered in a void, only consisting of a few people. Very acute though. 

Among those many few people, I was quite shocked to find Mikasa sitting there, completely distracted in her subject material. I lowkey expected her to be up Eren’s ass at all times making sure nobody dared to insult him in anyways.

Turns out to just be some silly rumors. I should really stop believing in them.  
If I remembered correctly, Mikasa was from Hizuru, a nation I always wanted to visit without a doubt. I always read about it in books and magazines and it was a nation like none other.

I wanted to have a conversation with her. I wanted to know if she knew anything. Has she ever lived in Hizuru? I wouldn't be surprised if she did.

I spotted an empty space next to her, and tried my best to grab it, but I still tried to be sly at the same time. 

“Uh, hello, can I sit here?” I asked her.

In all honesty, I was shitting my pants at the moment. She was indeed terrifying. I didn’t know if she was going to punch me at the moment. I genuinely didn’t want to feel this way.

“Yeah sure, let me just move my stuff out of the way,” she said while doing exactly what she said she was going to do.

I was sorta embarrassed for bothering her. I thought she would mind, but it looks like she didn’t. She actually was really beautiful when you looked at her up close.

She had black hair like mine, but the only difference was that hers was straight and mine was wavy. She had black eyes that could easily sweep you into her void.

When I sat down, I was thinking of ways I could start a conversation with her. I didn’t want to be weird, although I was already acting strange. I didn’t want to bother her, especially since I would be taking up her precious studying time.

It was difficult coming up with ideas, so I decided it would be best if I started studying to not waste any time. I would maybe think of something while I was studying, even though it’s difficult to do two things at the same time.

What would be a smart way to get her attention? Hey, I heard you were from Hizuru, I want to know what it’s like? No, that would be extremely awkward. She’d probably think how I know she’s from Hizuru. 

Or maybe, I can just simply start a conversation. I hope she isn’t bothered by my curiosity. I could even say she is even more interesting than Porco. I hope she isn’t mean like those other girls that exist in my classroom.

“Hi, Mikasa was it?” I asked.

Holy shit. Here we go. Honestly, I’m kinda scared and the more time passes by, the more I’m regretting the decision I made.

“Yeah, I’m guessing your Pieck?”

“Yeah, that’s me, how did you know?”

“Because you’re the new talking subject in my group.”

I was preparing myself to be surprised, but not by this. Why would they, out of all people, be talking about me? What was so interesting about me? I literally just arrived here.

“So, what do they talk about me anyway?” I asked.

Once I asked this question, I saw Mikasa smirked, which confused me even more. What could she be smiling for? What was so funny about my question?

“It’s mainly Porco who talks about you anyways.”

“Ever since he met you, he has been non-stop talking about you,” she said.

Her comment made me feel light. I must have made an impact on Porco for him to talk about me. It’s nice when someone talks about you, it doesn’t make you feel forgotten anymore.

“Hey Pieck, I might even think he has the hots for you,” Mikasa teased while her smirk increased even more.

“And why would you think that?” I questioned her, returning her smirk. It was really contagious.

“Well, because whenever he talks it’s always about you. I think I even remembered him mentioning how pretty you were.”

I don’t know what took over me, but it was surely something I had never felt before. Porco calling me pretty? Why me out of all people? I’m sure there were many other girls that fit the “standard”.

Why would he call me pretty? Does he find my slanted nose attractive, or my really noticeable eye bags pretty? Does he find my big dark eyes, or large clumpy dark hair attractive? Does he really find my gaunt-like figure attractive?

I’m honestly confused by his statement, but deep down, I appreciate it.

“Is that so Mikasa? I’m guessing he calls everyone that.”

“I’m not joking when I say this Pieck. He rarely finds an interest in anything or anyone.”

“I’ll take your word about it.”

Damn it. I wanted to initiate a conversation to talk about Hizuru, but somehow, we ended up talking about Porco. It’s going to be really hard to change the topic now.

“So Mikasa, is there anyone who you’re laying your eyes on right now?” I decided to tease her back. Why not? She started doing it to me.

Her immediate reaction was priceless. I’m sure she wasn’t expecting that question to come out of my mouth. She was shocked initially, but soon it converted into a blush. It was a cute scene indeed.

“Me, um, I-i guess there might be someone,” she said but stammered on her words a bit.

Wow. I never expected she had a shy side to her, but it’s better than me thinking she was some heartless person. 

“Who is it?” Now it was my time to push and tease her.

“I mean, you might know who it is.” 

Dang. She was playing hard to discover. Couldn’t she at least give me a hint if she was making this into a game? 

“Could you at least give me a hint?” I pleaded.

“Fine, just one. The person has blonde hair and is short.”

Hmm. Blonde hair and short hair. I would have to pick from a selection since there were many blonde-haired people here.

My first thought was Armin since she hung around a lot with him, though that’s the part that made me doubt it. They probably hung around a lot because they were friends. Also, Armin isn’t particularly short, nor is he particularly tall. He is just in the middle.

Scratch that. The next person that came to mind was Historia. She was definitely blonde, and also definitely short, but she had a girlfriend. It took me a while to decipher if you could still like someone who is taken already. 

And it is possible. She could just be heartbroken. That just might be the case, but I didn’t want to rub it in her face. Although, she seems like the type who would already move one from this type of scenario.

“Let me guess, it’s Historia.”

“No.”

No? Who else could it be? Is it someone I don’t know? Come on, that’s not fair at all.

“Is it someone in your entire group, or is it someone I don’t know?” 

I was starting to get tired of this guessing game. She was literally making this impossible for me to guess.

“It is someone from our group,” she said.

Then who? I literally crossed out everyone I know who is blonde and short and there is no option left. Unless I left someone out. Think. Think. Think…

Oh, wait!

Could it be...Annie?

She is definitely blonde and she sure as heck is short, maybe not compared to me but to Mikasa, definitely.

“Annie!” I practically screamed out.

“Shush!” Mikasa whispered-screamed at me.

“Hehe, sorry, but am I correct? Come one, there literally isn’t anyone I can think of.”

“You can’t probably think of anyone else because you’re correct.”

Yes! I knew I was bound to get it. But what baffled me was that Mikasa was starting to lower her head as if she were embarrassed.

“Mikasa, what’s wrong?”

“You’re not going to judge me?” she asked.

Huh? What would I judge her about? I’m getting more baffled by the second.

“You’re not going to judge that I like girls.”

Oh, so that’s what she was embarrassed about. Hell no, does she even know who I am? Which person in this generation would make fun of someone for who they like? As a matter of fact, I’m not that hetero either.

“Mikasa, why would I judge you?” I said in the softest tone that could come out of my mouth.

“If it makes you feel better, I myself am pan, and I’m not lying.”

I enjoyed the reaction she gave me next. It was one of happiness and relief. I wonder how much bullying this girl must have endured to feel this way. I’m sure with her robust strength, she could crush anyone that dared to insult her.

“Don’t worry, if anyone says something to you, I’ll beat their ass up.

She seemed genuinely grateful from my comment.

“Thanks, Pieck, I would really like to be friends with you if that’s fine.”

Bingo! I did it, I made friends with her. It wasn’t as hard as I expected, but it’s still another victory for me.

“Same to you, I’ll try to help you with Annie as much as possible.”

It looked like Mikasa was going to say something, but the bell beat her to it. It was finally time for lunch. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until I heard the bell ring.

I basically didn’t take out anything, not even to study. I guess I didn’t take advantage of the time that was given to me, but I wouldn’t exchange the time I had with Mikasa today for anything.

I waved out to her because I was going to depart earlier. 

“Bye Mikasa. I hope to see you around again.”

“You too Pieck. Nice chat with you and thank you.”

With that, I started walking so fast I was practically running to the cafeteria. After minutes of walking and thinking in my head, I found myself in the cafeteria room. Perfect! Just the place I intended to be.

The cafeteria looked the same as usual, and so was the entire set, but for some reason, I could find myself in a better mood. I looked over and saw Porco with his friends. 

They were causing trouble like they regularly do, but that was the entertaining aspect about it. From my point of view, I could see Jean and Eren fighting. I couldn’t believe the faculties allowed them to do it.

I usually thought teachers were very picky on topics like this, especially in a fancy school like this. I guess not. Could the teachers be interested in their ruckus?

I went over to my usual seat, it kinda made me depressed. I was going to be lonely again. I don’t even know why I was worrying so much, I have always been lonely. It wasn’t that I wasn’t accustomed to.

They look like they were enjoying it, though it kinda sent a pang down my chest. I enjoyed Porco’s company for the whole past week but I should have realized that he probably had his friend group. And with a heavy heart, I went to my usual seat and to sit by myself how I have always done. 

It wasn’t the most pleasant thing, but it gave me time to think to myself and recollect my thoughts. It was something that I didn’t realize I needed. It was soothing indeed. I never knew hanging around so many people could be so mentally and emotionally draining. People were fun to hang around with, but being around too many can slurp all the energy out of you. 

While I was eating in my relaxing demeanor, I noticed a tall girl walking towards me. Calling her tall was an understatement. She was a freaking giant! Probably taller than most of the basketball and football players in this school. She wore very plain clothes and had a very wack hairstyle. Her blond hair had a bowl cut similar to that Armin dude that hangs around with Eren. 

In a matter of seconds, she was already making herself comfortable at the table I was comfortable in. It shocked me for a millisecond but I figured it was due to her very long legs. I took interest in her and decided that I might as well start a conversation with her since I have nothing better to do. 

“Looks like you took interest in my table,” I said.

“It's not like it belonged to you anyways,” she slyly replied.

“Why’d you decide to sit here of all places? You don’t give me the lone wolf vibe.”

“I wanted to seek different people I guess.”

“You’re one of the new kids, right?” She asked.

“Yeah, I entered just this new semester. I am more of a transfer student. I interchanged schools during my third year.” I explained to her.

“Ah I see, what school did you use to attend?” She asked in that deep, raspy tone of hers.

“I used to go to the only University in Downtown Liberio”

“Downtown Liberio I see….I could see why you would’ve wanted to move. Last time I went there I didn’t ever want to return.”

“That’s perfectly understandable. There is an incredible gap between Downtown and the rest of Liberio. I wouldn't want to return, but I have to visit there a few times by force.”

“And why is that?”

“My father resides there, and I have to vigil over him due to his condition.”

“Does he have some sort of disease?”

“Yeah, cancer.”

“I can understand what sort of position you’re in. It’s difficult to take care of people with illnesses. It takes up all your energy.”

She took a long pause.

“I used to have a little brother with autism. He couldn’t control the way he would react, and most of the time he would overreact in public. It was embarrassing and I just wanted to scream and hit him but I had to control myself. They get easily offended by any insult and scream towards them. You need to be patient with them.”

“But as much patience you have, it takes away all your willpower and strength. That’s why people say don’t try to fix other peoples’ problems if you are not stable yourself but sometimes you're born into that position.”

“We didn’t have to worry about any financial issues, since we are well off, but my mother would never spend time with her son. It frustrated me. Why am I supposed to take care of my little brother 24/7 when she’s an adult.”

“I thought it wasn’t fair. I had deep resentment against my mom and don’t even mention my dad, he would never even appear. My resentment lasted for a while. All the pressure and frustrations that were put on me caused me to take my anger on my brother.”

“I then noticed that showing angry behavior towards them caused anxiety in them, and that was the last thing I intentionally wanted to do. I realized he wasn’t at fault for all of this. He would probably suffer more for his condition.”

“But his illness is a beautiful thing. Not everyone has to be the same as you, and some people really can’t get that through their thick skulls.”

“He is special for a reason. It frustrates me when people view him as unable and decapitated but he can probably do everything you can do and better. I usually flip off those people but it pains me inside every single time. I wish people wouldn’t discriminate against others for something they can't control.”

After hearing that heartfelt story from her, I couldn’t help but empathize with her. Mommy issues heh? When it comes to people in need, the key element is to be patient. It can take you a long way. I felt like she and I had much and common and we could probably hang around like friends. 

You can truly connect with someone if you guys experience relatively the same things.

“I hope you’re able to help your brother,” I said, but I meant it.

I’ll never know what it’s like but I‘ve seen it before, and it is not pretty.

“Yeah,” she said with a gloomy sigh.

“Could you tell me how it is to take care of a cancer patient? I don’t want to sound insensitive, but I’m curious if it differs from taking care of an autistic patient.”

“It's pretty much the same thing. Easier emotionally, but harsher financially especially since I’m not necessarily stable financially. I used to live in Downtown Liberio after all, I think that explains it pretty much”

“I’m guessing that’s pretty hard since I’ve heard how expensive cancer bills accumulate up to.”

“Yeah they’re crazy but I hope my risks and sacrifices will be worth it overall.”

“I too wish you success in the future.”

“Thanks, same to you”.

As I finished my last statement, I noticed everyone was rising from their seats and cleaning up after themselves. Lunchtime must be over then. The blond-hair girl seemed to have already noticed as she had a head start in cleaning her things. 

We both were packing up in silence until it looked like we would part ways into our classes. I have talked to a lot of mysterious people today, I questioned if I would meet more along the way, though I have to make sure to be careful who I talk to and what their connections are.

“Before we leave, I would like to know your name?” She interrogated.

“Pieck, you?”

“Yelena”

“Nice seeing you Yelena, I hope we can meet some other time.”

“Same to you Pieck.”


	8. My World Surrounds You

Porco’s P.O.V

I kinda froze up yesterday. I kinda chickened out yesterday. But I hope today will be better. I wish I had the guts to talk to her and introduce her to my group but I messed up. I would look at her from a distance to see how she was doing. Even so, at one point I wanted to drop everything and go sit next to her. But she beat me to it.

“Yelena”

A tall, slim girl who had short blond hair styled into a bowl cut similar to that of Armin’s. (A/N Armin’s hair will look like how he looked in Season 4) She had a very sly aura to her that could scare anyone, but that didn’t seem to be the case with Pieck. I could only read shock from her face for a millisecond. I probably would’ve to shit my pants if she stood in front of me. 

There isn’t much that I could tell you about Yelena. The only thing she is really known for is her abnormal height. She wasn’t spectacular in anything except art, which often goes under the roof. Not many people know about her talent in art, but I happened to pass by her in the art studio after school one day. She was extremely good at painting. 

I never thought I would see someone as good as her in our school. She would probably be contracted in the future with some great agency selling paintings that cost thousands. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

I liked that she doesn’t flaunt her talent like most of the snobs in our school. Unlike most of the snobs in this college, she actually has talent in what she invests in. People here are rather mediocre in what they do. Jack-all-of all spades, but master of none. Yeah, they’re all pretty average. They take on any hobby that interests them for a second to then drop it when they are bored. With that mentality, they'll never be truly good at something.

I'm not bragging or anything, but my group is different in their own sense. They might be chaotic, but we all come from somewhere. We are chaotic, but it's to cope with all the issues we have had to face in school and in the rest of the world. 

It's very hard for kids at our school to get to our level. We get stereotyped for being dumb and social rejects just because some of us cause issues and are obnoxious. Just wait for them to know that we have some of the smartest, talented, and athletic people in our group. 

As much as I wanted to join their conversation in whatever they were talking about, I honestly thought it was more important to make amends with my friends from forever. Right now, they should be my priorities. 

I haven’t had a normal conversation with anyone, and after Reiner offered me to come back, I’ll actually put effort into returning things like they used to. On the good side, once this is finally fixed, I could formally introduce everyone to Pieck.

I couldn’t help but question who I talk to first. Definitely not Reiner. Even though we usually talked a lot before, whenever he hangs around with Eren and Jean. They are practically the same person.

Bertholdt is a very easy person to talk to. You could get on serious terms with him and he would definitely understand the room, but the only issue was that he was too shy. The conversation won’t last long.

Annie was definitely a big no. The girl doesn’t like it when you even breathe near her. She probably didn’t care that I left and I would be coming back. She probably didn’t notice. I knew she moved on quicker than anyone else, and I’m glad for her.

Ymir and Historia would probably be too busy with themselves. You could call it a couple thing I supposed. And even though I thought it would be a bad idea, it became my option by elimination. Jean and Marco would probably be invested with people from the other group.

I wished everyone else would be there, and I hope some wouldn’t notice me. And just like that, I walked straight up to the table like I had been sitting there and engaging for these entire years. And guess who’s the first person who noticed me? 

Ymir.

It was almost like she was awaiting me or she had a sixth sense that told her I finally decided to be friends again. Her hand made a little signal, trying to indicate to me to come to sit where she was. The most surprising thing was Historia wasn’t there.

That was most definitely odd. Historia and Ymir were inseparable. You’ll never see one without the other, so when I saw the once-in-a-million scene, it definitely aroused curiosity inside me.

“Yo, Porco come here,” she screamed basically.

I was surprised no one paid attention to me despite Ymir being the obnoxious, annoying person she is. But damn, that woman has some great advice. It’s worth putting up with her annoying personality for it.

“What do you want Ymir?” I said with slight annoyance in my tone.

“Aww, come on. Is that how you treat an old friend?” she said in that playful tone of hers.

“Whatever,” I sighed while sitting in front of her where we would be facing eye to eye.

“What caused you to come back?” Ymir questioned.

I wasn’t shocked about this at all. Ymir doesn’t beat around the bush. She always shoots straight to the point.

“I had a chat with Reiner. He somehow made me realize how selfish I was,” I said.

Dang! I really hated how that came out. Why couldn’t I say something else?”

“It was about time you realized, you egocentric punk.” 

Ouch! That hurt, even though it was all true. 

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I hated admitting defeat, but it just proves that pride is my problem even more.

“Don’t worry punk, I miss you too. Welcome back.”

Man, this way keeps on getting weirder by the day. Ymir just said she missed me! Is she high or something? But, it did give me a sense of appreciation. It didn’t make me feel lonely anymore.

“Yeah, I missed all of you, and I guess I’ll get along with the new friends you made.”

“Umm, talking about you. I see the new girl you’ve been hanging out with, Pieck.”

“Oh her, yeah you could say so.” 

No matter if I am with them or not, these people know everything about my life. Depending on which point of view you see it from, these signs show that they still care about me. I’m truly grateful to have friends like these.

“Yeah, I made a friend, and?”

“And?! You never make friends, and especially after you departed from us.”

“I honestly think it’s way more than just friends,” Ymir implied.

“What?” I questioned.

“You know what I mean, you probably like her?” 

I swear. This is like the fifth time someone mentioned that I like Pieck. It’s honestly, extremely annoying, but I rather not give out an answer as I don’t even know myself. Do I like her? I can’t tell. 

“I don’t like her. Don’t get any ideas.”

“You sure about that buddy. You can’t tell me all the interactions and the conversations you have is because you guys are friends,” she said.

She was really pushing it. Why doesn’t anyone understand that I didn’t like her? What did my actions show her? What was that special about them? Can I not talk with anyone without them suspecting?

“Ymir don’t push it, please. I’m only friends with her.”

“Alright,” she admitted in defeat.

Good thing she finally was able to take a hint, but I knew she didn’t give up. She was going to bring it up later, no doubt about it.

We were talking for a little while more until Historia showed up. She went up right next to Ymir, which Ymir received her with a kiss. I was wondering where Historia was. Looks like she was just busy with something.

“Hi, Ymir. Oh! Hi Porco. What a surprise to see you here.” she said.

She didn’t expect me here, probably.

“Hey, Historia,” I said back.

She wasn’t that annoying like Ymir or Reiner, so it was easier to have a conversation with her.

“What made you come back?” she said.

Geez! Am I going to be forced to answer the same question to a whole bunch of people? Honestly, this is such a drag.

“Had a change of mind I guess,” I said. I just wanted to summarize it.

“However you did it, I’m glad you came back,” she said.

I swear. It’s going so well, but if she starts to mention something about Pieck, I’m seriously going to combust.

“Porco, how are you and Pieck going?”

Uggh! Why, Historia? It was going so well.

“Well.”

The bare minimum is the only thing I’m giving to people who ask me this question.

“Actually, Ymir and I talked to her the other day.”

Now, this sparked my curiosity. I could take this as a chance to get some information about this mysterious girl.

“What did you guys talk about?”

“Did you know she’s actually Eldian, and from Eldia itself?”  
Now that took me by surprise. She’s an Eldian? I mean, it makes sense now. Explains why her features were different from the rest.

The only thing my mom said about my ethnicity was very vague. She mentioned that we had Eldian descent, but never refused to go into details. A lot of my family left Eldia to come here as well, but my mom would never allow us to go there.

She said it was because it was dangerous and it wasn’t a suitable place for us. She wouldn’t accept any discussion, or else we would be punished. Our family went through so many issues and difficulties for us to want to go there.

I just asked her a question, and she would start victimizing herself, like every mom.

“Was she born in Eldia?”

“Yeah, she said she was, and then she moved here.”

Should I ask her about it? I always wanted to know where my roots come from, but why would she keep it a secret. I never really asked her either way. Could she be scared that word would get out and that people would view her a different way?

There must be a good reason that she kept it concealed. I don’t want to be annoying so I won’t mention anything. 

While chatting with Ymir and Historia, I would occasionally take a few glances at Pieck and Yelena’s table. Somewhat I could observe, I noticed that they were really invested in a conversation that seems to have already taken off. 

I noticed they seemed to hit off pretty well, which made me jealous. I didn’t know what took over me when I saw them together. It was a mix of possessiveness and anxiety.

The anxiety that someone would leave me again. I didn’t want that. No! First, it was my dad, then Marcel, and then my old friend group. I felt alone.

And that was the worst feeling ever. Just when things were going well, I fell to rock bottom again. It saddened me to see her with someone that wasn’t me. I thought I was special to her.

I obviously couldn’t hear their conversation as they were quite far away and there was much ruckus surrounding us, but Pieck was enjoying herself. They were really invested in whatever conversation they were having.

Though it rubbed me off the wrong way. I couldn’t indicate where it was heading to, but I could feel the results. Anger. I felt anger inside of me every time I saw them talking together. That girl made her laugh like I was able to do. 

I thought I was special. I thought I was the only important person that she could enjoy being around. I felt guilty after what I just thought. It shows how shitty of a person I am.

I thought I was the only one able to do that, but my thoughts just have been debunked.I felt replaced. I surprisingly enjoyed being her first friend. This jealousy surged from me and I didn’t enjoy it. Again, it made me feel guilty. 

I can’t control what she likes, but I can control what I want. I want to be near me. It's unexplainable, but I find her aura quite comforting. I haven’t found something so relaxing since my brother. 

As much as I hated it, she was my comfort, my coping mechanism. She never judges nor does she questions, she just listens. That was the type of person I was looking for. She was nice, but not submissive.

She was incredibly strong, stronger than me if I had to admit so. A strength that I greatly admired.

I appreciate her calming satisfaction that she offered me. That warm reliance she gave me. The feeling that she would always be there. Ever since the first day, the only thing she had ever done with me was helping me.

She never left me alone. She stood by my side always, and here I am, jealous that she hangs around with someone else. That’s what happens when you depend on your happiness on someone else. They leave, and you’re broken.

As much as I tried speaking with some of my friends to distract me, but I couldn’t seem to keep my mind off of her. No matter how hard I kept trying, nothing I intended would work. She kept infiltrating my thoughts. I was soon getting tired of it.

At this point, I really need to get my mind off things. It might get ugly, and I wouldn’t want another accident to happen, in front of everyone, my friends, and especially, Pieck.

I don’t want her to see how weak I am inside. How lonely I am. How much I depend on her. 

What Ymir mentioned before could be true. If I couldn’t live with her and always want to be with her, could it be love? I don’t doubt it that much anymore.

That’s why when it was time to leave the cafeteria, I was most eager to get out of there as soon as possible. I hope the rest of the group wouldn’t question my weird behavior as I hate when people interrogate me more than anything. 

Ymir and Historia noticed my strange behavior and started to raise suspicion.

“Hey, Porco, are you alright?” asked Historia with worry in her tone.

I didn’t answer her. I was feeling so many things at the moment, dizziness, nauseous, flashes, and palpitations. The fact that I was sweating or trembling didn’t help conceal my current state. 

“Yo, Porco, snap out of it,” Ymir said.

They probably know what was happening, but not because of why it was happening. Another one of my panic attacks. The last one I had was in high school so they were definitely not expecting it to happen now.

I was so suspicious now, it even grabbed Reiner’s attention, who was very concentrated on his own stuff. He randomly dropped everything and came over to me.

“Porco, what’s wrong?” He said while grabbing me and holding me back.

“Let me go!” I screamed back at him while trying to let myself free out of his grasp. 

By now, tears due to stress were already coming out and everyone noticed it. It took me a while, but I was able to set free from Reiner even though it wasn’t an easy task.

Once I was free, I ran without consciousness. I didn’t care where I ended up, even if it was my death, but I wanted to be away from everyone. But as much as I wanted to be alone, I wished that someone would at least come for me.

I probably grabbed the attention of many people, especially a certain black-haired girl but I didn’t give two shits at that point.

I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I was stressing myself out for no reason. I couldn’t come to my senses while I was walking. Action without thought you could call it. 

I wished someone would come after me, but nobody care about me probably. I wasn’t important. 

After I was able to escape the crowd and was at a good distance from everyone was where I could feel truly at peace. My senses and reflexes came back to me.

I was anxious to see so many people being in my presence. Seeing so many people at once randomly stressed me out and I couldn’t explain where these feelings were coming from. I would have to see more people in the class.

I eventually arrived at the door of my class to figure out it wasn’t open yet till class actually commenced. I was slightly irritated as I needed something to do to distract my nervousness. The only thing I could think of doing was sitting on the floor next to the door till Dr. Zoe came. 

Usually, they are pretty busy and they don’t arrive till a few minutes afterward. Same thing you could apply to everyone else who attends her class. 

Normally being the class after lunch you shouldn’t expect your students to arrive so Dr. Zoe usually allows them to arrive a little late since they themselves are a lenient teacher and probably one of the only teachers that act like that in this school. 

I soon then realized I left lunch way earlier than expected due to these anxious feelings I couldn’t even explain. They were uncommon feelings I’ve ever experienced. Back in the cafeteria, I had my senses of inferiority, that no one would like me. 

That all my friends don’t really pay attention to me and they don’t even care about me. Heck! They didn't even bother to check how I was doing. 

It proved to me that I was nothing more than just a nuisance. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And that friend I made, Pieck, probably used me. She was now replacing as everyone else would do. I couldn’t take it anymore. 

I didn’t mean anything to no one. I should probably go jump off a bridge or something, not like anyone would notice. 

I don’t want to be replaced. I wanted to be loved. I wanted a friend. I just wanted to fuckin cry right there and now. I felt another tear fall but I tried my hardest to not let anything else go. It was really firing on me.

Fuck! I couldn’t let anyone see me like this, even though they might have already seen me. They’ll think I’m a wimp, a pussy, a nobody. I can’t let them see me like this. They’d probably laugh at me anymore.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I have no other option plan but to leave and escape to somewhere like the bathroom or the janitor’s closet. It was the only way to save me from more deep self-hatred.

And with that, I stood on my feet and started heading to somewhere where I would be alone and in peace. I didn’t even think about where I would go but I continued running. Running away from all my feelings and issues as I have always done. 

I have always been a wimp. Unlike my brother, who was brave, strong-willed, and independent, I was a coward. I could never be like him. 

I kept running and running until I could see a safe spot. But I was slowing down my pace, it felt degrading, but I checked to see if anyone went after me. If anybody cared about me. 

I saw nothing, nobody. Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody fucking cares about me! That’s how I felt.

Nobody came to seek me.

But that all changed in a matter of seconds. I saw a petite figure running towards me and before I knew it she tackled me to the ground. 

Pieck!

Why did she come out of all people? I thought she was enjoying her time with Yelena and that she had already replaced me. My friends all probably replaced me years ago. That left me with nobody.

But no, Pieck was my somebody. I was somebody to her. She came. She cared for me. She was always there for me, and the fact that I doubted her made me feel even worse.  
This realization made me into a mess of sobs as I just started to let it all out. It was an ugly scene.

“What’s wrong Porco! Just tell me!”

She called me by my first name. She must be serious about this.

“N-Nothing Pieck. Leave me alone.” 

Shit! I stuttered.

“There’s something. I know it. Turn around for me.”

I don’t know why, but I felt like she wouldn’t judge me, so I agreed to her command.

“Porco! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“It's nothing Pieck. I-i just don’t know what came over me.”

I felt like she would keep on bugging me, but no. She did the most unpredictable thing I would’ve thought. She pulled me into a hug. I couldn’t believe this girl, but I wasn’t complaining. As I mentioned before, she gave me a sense of comfort and relaxation. It truly soothed me. 

She didn’t speak anything else. She just rubbed my back while I let out soft sobs in her shoulders. Since she was quite short, I had to bend down a little but it was worth it. She relaxed me until I was able to calm down and feel better. Something I never imagine anyone could do. Someone who could finally open up my heart. 

She wouldn’t bother me or push anything but just comforted me while I let all of my chilling sobs out. I was embarrassed, but I was glad that someone came for me. Who knew, maybe if it weren’t for her, I would’ve finished today and now.

She wouldn’t realize how important she was in my life.

And from that day, I figured that was the type of girl that Pieck was. She was the girl I loved.


	9. Chapter 9

Porco’s P.O.V

After a while of me and Pieck cuddling of some sort, she suggested It would be best if I were to go back to my dorm. I didn’t want to as I could imagine how much work I would have to catch up with when I came back. 

Anyone would know it's not smart to miss class but I honestly didn’t feel like returning. It was too much of a hassle and I knew that.

I really enjoyed the moment we had together, and when I realized I liked her, it made me blushed with embarrassment. I don’t know if she loved me back, but for now, I will enjoy the fact that she cares for me.

Pieck had a point. I didn’t have enough mental willpower to go back after I created such a scene. I’ll deal with the issues later and just allowed Pieck to lead me back to the dorm. She mentioned that she would return as soon as school finishes to get started on our science project. Once I took a nap, I would have enough willpower to be able to work on our project together.

Pieck really was a savior. I couldn't believe I ever doubted her and our friendship. After all, she had the right to have other friends. I felt guilty that I was jealous, but those are all regular feelings that we humans have. 

My thoughts wondered if she ever felt the same way about me. It was hard to figure out how I felt about her, but whatever it was, it was comforting.

“Don’t worry about the material, just rest and be ready for when I come back,” she broke our string of silence.

“Thanks again. I’ll try to pay you back later.”

“I don’t need payback, I’m satisfied with doing you a favor. After all, I don’t mind doing a favor for a friend.”

Shit! That hurt. Besides, what else did I expect her to say. The only thing we were ever were friends. We weren’t anything more nor anything less. 

Friends were the only thing we were, and I knew that, so why did that hurt so bad. Did I want her to consider me as something more? But then, why would she?   
We just met for almost a month and being around her for this short period of time is confusing me a lot. My feelings right now, feel like a roller coaster.

It didn’t take long until we arrived at our dorm rooms. I opened the door to my room and we both entered. My dorm was the same as always, bland and boring, but that’s how I suited it to my standards. 

I didn’t waste any time finding my way to my bed. It was the only thing I wanted to do at the moment. Just fall on the nice-comfortable bed that was awaiting me.

It was kind of selfish of me to just lay in my bed after all that Pieck did to help me. She must have sacrificed valuable school time for me. 

While I was getting comfortable in my bed, I noticed Pieck was making use of my kitchen. After a while, I figured she was cooking something due to the smell that was oozing from the kitchen. A smell that was truly pleasing. 

From the smell, I could tell she was making curry. I wondered how she was able to make it since I have almost no ingredients to use, especially curry. She must have brought it in from her dorm.

Wow, Porco. You can’t even do anything for her even though she does everything for you. You really are useless.

“Porco, I left some food for you. I’ll be leaving right now but as soon as I come back, I expect you to be all prepared to continue our project,” I heard her say as she was making her way to the door.

“Ok, I’ll try my best to be up by then.”

But I realized there was something more important to tell her. 

“Pieck, wait!” I screamed.

“What?” she said with a baffled facial expression.

“Thank you...for everything today,” I said with a lot of gratitude in my voice.

“No problem Porco. Just get some rest,” she said with relief.

And with that, she shut the door.

Peace. Since it was the only time I had it might as well use it appropriately. Tiredness quickly overwhelmed me. I knew I was about to sleep at any time. After a short while, I closed my eyes awaiting the dark emptiness awaiting me.

Pieck P.O.V

Porco is such a cutie, isn’t he? Anyway, I hope he likes the curry I made him. I wasted a lot of valuable class time just to take him to his dorm and made sure he was sleeping well. I was still baffled at his reaction earlier this afternoon, but whatever the cause, I hope he recovers well. 

I only managed to arrive at my last class of the day. The class I have with Yelena supposedly. Glad, at least I had someone I relatively know to accompany me in the class, even though we wouldn’t have any time to chat. Luckily, literature was my last class, and one of the subjects I find most pleasing.

Literature is a slow-paced, easy, and somehow intriguing course. I don’t mind it at all because it’s an easy grade. The only bad part about it was my teacher. I learned something not-to-long ago that the teachers here were very picky and strict about the curriculum. For something as easy as Literature, it wasn’t that much of a problem, but for other courses like Math, it tended to be very difficult. 

I entered the room and to my luck, I saw Yelena there. I mentally sighed with relief. I didn’t want to be alone and even though some of Porco’s friends were there I was closer to Yelena. I quickly sat next to the available desk next to her. She noticed me but then continued to pay attention to class. I wouldn't be able to talk to her so I might as well pay attention to class. There wasn’t much going on since it was a Friday. Once this class finished, I had all the weekend to myself. I could even spend some time with Porco if I wanted to.

The class was like usual. The teacher spent most of the time blabbering and talking about useless shit that I didn’t know if I would need in the future. I still took notes because I knew I would forget in the future. 

Can’t risk failing a single class. The period ran for almost an hour and the teacher left when she concluded her class. She seemed to have a happier aura today. I wondered what could be making her so happy. As long as she’s not her bitter, cranky self, I’m glad.

As soon as the bell finally runged, I accumulated all the material and utensils I used during the class. Simultaneously, I started organizing what I would need later on to do the project with Porco. 

From the looks of it, I wouldn’t need much stuff since most of the material would be found on the internet. When I finally organized everything I needed, I looked up to see Yelena was standing in front of me. She was still as tall as ever.

“I see you’re ready to leave, Pieck,” she said.

“Yeah, let’s get on our way,” I replied to her as we simultaneously started walking.

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

“Porco and I are going to commence our project together, so I plan to stop by his dorm.”

“Oooh, so you two paired up for the science project I see?” She said with a sly undertone to it.

“If I didn’t know better myself, I would say you have the hots for that stubborn man,” she added to her previous statement. 

“I could. You never know.” Might as well tell her since I knew that nothing could go past her. I didn't have shame or embarrassment in telling her.

“Who said I didn’t know already. I could tell from the other side of the cafeteria. And here I thought you were good at keeping your poker face, looks like you dropped it this time.”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

Yelena and I continued to talk for a while until I heard a whole bunch of people scream my name.

“Pieck!”

“Pieck!”

“Pieck!”

I was shocked who it was, but it made sense. It was all of Porco’s friends. Reiner, Ymir, Historia, Jean, Marco, Annie, and Bertholdt. I even saw some other people from the other group like Eren and Mikasa.

“Calm down guys, what’s wrong?” I said trying to calm them all down. 

“How’s Porco?” Historia said.

“Where the fuck is Porco?” Reiner also screamed.

“Did he get another panic attack?” Marco said but way quieter.

They were all streaming in my face at the same time, but I was glad that they cared for their friend.

“Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah. Calm down, please. Everything is fine. I just took Porco back to his room so he would be safe and that he could rest.”

Once I said this, I saw everyone sighed in relief like they were scared something bad would happen to him. After their exaggerating sighs and after they calmed down, Reiner came up to me.

“Pieck, I’m extremely grateful. I can’t express how grateful I am,” he said.

I was confused. Wasn’t that the minimum for me though as his friend?

“Sure, it was no problem. It wasn’t anything that serious though.” 

“That’s what you think,” said a random voice from one of them. Turns out it was Ymir.

They could all see my confused face written all over my face.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

“We need to talk to you about that,” said Jean.

“Alright,” I accepted.

I was going to tell Yelena that she should probably leave since I don’t think she was involved in this, but it looked like she already took the hint. I am going to have to thank her for that later. 

“Look, Pieck. There is something important that we have to talk to you,” Reiner started.

I assumed he was going to explain the whole thing as he was the leader, I presumed, of the group.

“I want to make this quick as you and Porco are going to need all the time you’ll get, but there is a very delicate topic about him you need to know,” Reiner said.

“What about Porco?” I asked.

“Look, Porco used to have these panic attacks back in high school. We all know his symptoms and usually know how to deal with these things, but today, we were completely taken by surprise.”

“Since we haven’t been in contact for a while, we decided to let you take care of him since you’re the closest person he is to right now.”

“But you don’t know how serious this could’ve gotten. Back in high school, these panic attacks stem from low self-esteem. It was a known fact that he had it, but we would never discuss it. That’s probably;y why he felt lonely.”

“Sometimes, he would even think about ending his life, which is what we were most scared of.”

“Please, the only thing we ask of you is to take care of him. We used to be the closest people to him, but right now, you’re more important to him than we, and we respect that.”

“He will always be our friend, just don’t mention anything that we talked about and don’t try to ask any questions.”

And with that, Reiner concluded.

“Again, thank you very much,” Reiner said.

“Thank you,” said Historia.

“We owe you,” said Ymir.

“We’re very grateful,” said Bertholdt and Marco.

“Sorry for all the trouble we caused you,” said Jean.

“Thanks,” said Annie.

I never thought I would hear Annie talk, That was the first time I ever talked to her in my life. She must be really grateful then.

“No problem guys. I’ll take care of him, after all, I like him,” I said without a care in the world.

Oh shit! I really just exposed myself like that in front of his friends. I’m sure the news was bound to get to him at any time. When I realized what I did, I turned into a blushing mess along with the shocked faces of many.

“See. I knew she liked him, you owe me ten bucks Reiner,” Ymir said to him.

“Fine, fine. I’ll give them to you later.” 

“Okay, but you better not forget.”

They were betting on me?! Man, they are a bunch of assholes, but they were fun.

“So, Pieck, when do you plan to make the moves on him or are you anticipating him to take the initiative?” Jean asked.

“Fuck off, Jean. I just have a crush on him, and I can’t believe I spilled the beans to you guys of all people.”

Everyone just laughs at my statement.

“Don’t worry. We care about Porco as much as you do, so for his sake, we’ll keep it our little secret,” said Ymir.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t have fun though,” she added.

Great! Now I’m going to have to deal with all their bullcrap, but it’s nice to know they can trust me now.

“Well guys, I need to meet up with Porco, so I’ll be leaving now,” I said while slowly departing from them.”

“Alright, we’ll see you later,” said Historia.

Basically, everyone else had to leave too since school ended. Most of them lived in another flat so Reiner, Bertholdt, Jean, Marco, Ymir, and Historia all separated. That left me with Annie, and boy was it awkward.

Annie was just a few centimeters shorter than me, but she was incredibly quiet. I don’t even think I could hear her breathe. But as much as she was short, I know she could break my bones if I pulled any funny business.

Somehow, we ended up walking together. I’m assuming her dorm was near mine for she and I to be walking simultaneously in the same route. It was only halfway through our walk when she actually spoke something.

“I saw you talking to Mikasa the other day, did she say anything about me to you?” she asked.

That was definitely random. I totally forgot Mikasa likes her, and I’m sure she wouldn't be too excited if I told her so I had no options but to lie.

“No, nothing at all.”

When I said this, she had a slightly disappointed face, but I tried to ignore it. I definitely don’t want to hook them up together since we all know how that ends up. The only thing to do was to allow it naturally to evolve.

We eventually arrived at her dorm. She slightly indicated that we would be separating now and gave me a quiet bye which I responded to her with. That left me alone, awaiting to see Porco.

Walking through the tall and clean walls of the dorm, I quietly hummed to myself while simultaneously seeing my room door. 

I opened the door to see my room, all messed up and dirty because I barely have any time to maintain it. I tried to find an empty space to lay down all my stuff and to my luck I did. I left the remaining of my materials on the ground and only obtained the stuff I needed for the project..The only things I needed were my journal and my computer. Not too many things.

I went next door and knocked on Porco’s door hoping he would already be awake. Though, if I had to admit, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t awake. He looked like he needed hours of sleep to himself, but that time is over. 

I waited for a while until I heard movement and footsteps coming to the entrance. Dumbass Porco. I told him to be prepared by the time I arrived. What else did I expect from him?

“Hi Pieck, come in,” he said while opening the door. You could easily tell he just woke up but he’s trying to conceal it.

“Porco, here’s the stuff. I would suggest you use a computer, it’ll help a lot.”

“Yup, already there,” he pointed to the laptop that was sitting on the table. 

“Since you’re ready, we should probably start.”

“Just sit down, I have all the stuff here.”

Our project turned out to be easier than we expected. I would have assumed Mr. Yeager would have assigned something harder as he really liked to challenge us pers say. He either felt nice or we must have paid attention to the material really well.

The task was rather simple, so maybe this could allow me to have some time with Porco to waste around.

It probably took us around an hour and a half to totally complete the project. By the time we were finished, it was around 5:30 P.M. It wasn’t even time for dinner. We still had a lot of time to waste so I should probably suggest something since I could see he didn’t know what to do after.

“Porco, since we have all this time left, we should go to Liberio center.”

“Why would you want to go there?”

“Dunno, maybe to do some window shopping or could even go for a drink or two.”

“I don’t have anything better to do so I don’t see why not.”

“Alright then, since it’s settled, I’m going to go get changed. It won’t take long so I’ll meet you outside in around five minutes.”

“Ok then, see you I guess.”

I walked to my dorm to change into some better clothes since we’re going to a more high-end area of Liberio. An area where all the rich and elite people shopped at but that didn’t stop any of the regular civilians to have fun there. 

It was known to have exquisite restaurants, designer brands, and a known hot-spot place for lovers, young and old. I would like to take this as some time to destress and spend quality time with Porco.

I wore a burgundy skirt with a black leather jacket and long black boots that reached my knees. I let my hair down and added a slight face of makeup. I wanted to look presentable. Or maybe I wanted to look rich, but I always looked good anyways. I went outside to see Porco waiting while staring at the sky. I noticed that he had changed his attire a little. Interesting. I guess he did care about this even if it were a little.

“Hey, Porco, sorry if I took a little too long,” I called out to him as I was starting to walk out.

“Don’t worry, I just got out myself,” he responded while following me.

We walked towards the elevator which took us to the first floor. I didn’t have a car, but Porco did, so we decided to take his car to reach the center because it would take too long to reach there on foot. 

We were walking in the garage when I saw a strange person walking passed by us. To anyone else, he would seem like a regular janitor. But his uniform was weird. There wasn’t anything particular I could point out. It was just a gut feeling I guess. His car was parked at the end of the garage so it took us a while to reach there.

We got inside the car and Porco started driving us to our designated place. I wondered if this would be considered a date? I hope so.


	10. My World Surrounds You

Pieck P.O.V

The center of Liberio wasn’t as far as I expected. I guess with a car you can arrive at places quicker. The scene was none like I’ve ever seen. It was beautiful, gorgeous, and luxurious. In reality, I know I recommended coming here but me, myself, haven’t been here before. In fact, this is the first time I ever visited this place. It truly met my expectations.

“See, I told you it would be nice,” I said to Porco to break the silence we had in between us.

“Yeah, not too bad if I do say so myself,” he replied back.

“Where would you want to start?” 

“I don’t know, but let’s save the drinking for last. I don’t want to get drunk first thing.”

“Okay then, why don’t we go window shopping.”

“Sure, that sounds fine.”

It took us a while to find parking. I wouldn’t imagine how crowded this place was compared to my hometown. Back at home, it was a very easy task to find parking, but here, we’re basically struggling. I also forgot we have to pay for these parking things. 

I’ll pay for it since we used Porco’s gas. I’m assuming these things were quite expensive. I hope they don’t waste too much of my money, then, I wouldn't have enough to waste it on alcohol. 

To our luck, we were able to find a parking place, though it was a little far away from the fun of life but we could make due. We got out and I went to the parking ticket machine. I got my ticket and paid the money it required. 

It wasn’t that expensive but something more expensive than what I’m used to. I started heading to where all the shops and restaurants were located. We still have a lot of time but I want to use my time wisely as much as I can.

Porco and I were walking along the sidewalk when I saw something that was strange. I saw the same sketchy-looking janitor dude who was walking past by us in the garage. This was extremely weird. Why would he be here? Could he be stalking us? Or could he be here by coincidence? I hope it’s the second option. Still, I slightly doubted it.

I didn’t want to ruin the mood, so I decided the best thing was to find something that would distract me from this. To my side, there were many high-end stores that I wouldn’t mind visiting, so I begged Porco to let me go inside. To my surprise, he did, I didn’t expect how easy going he could get and he was probably trying to get something off his mind. 

The store was extremely pretty. Rarely something you would find in my hometown. I took advantage that it was maybe the only chance I could buy it since it appeared to be high in demand. It was a nice gray blazer that I always wanted. I think it would suit me nicely.

I couldn’t wait to try it on when I arrived back at my dorm. Maybe Porco might like it. A compliment from him wouldn’t hurt. I hope he does notice how much effort I’m putting into my appearance, unlike other days. I want to look as presentable as possible.

Porco and I kept walking down the sidewalk. We weren’t conversing that much since we were viewing the scenery in front of us. Since it was around Valentine’s era, you could see stores decorated with hearts and the streets decorated as well.

You could spot a bunch of couples walking around, holding hands, and doing stuff normal couples would do. There were many Valentine’s specials and limited-edition stuff that only comes once a year. Many people like to go to coffee shops especially.

I wanted to do that with Porco too. Even though we’re not dating, I want to send him signals as he is quite dense. All the ideas that were going inside my head were rather a cliche, but it was the only thing I could think of. Things like holding hands and shit like that.

I never have been in a relationship before, but I have watched my fair share of romantic novels. 

How the relationship starts varies by person. Some people are bold and flirtatious, while others are time and shy. I would be right in the middle, but unfortunately for me, Porco is a little bit of a dumbass.

If I didn’t do anything, nothing would ever happen. I wanted to try to find a way to express to him my feelings. Even though it doesn’t seem like I have a worry in the world, I’m still afraid of rejection. I couldn’t explain why I caught feelings for him so quickly, but I couldn’t deny it.

I’ve never had more balls in my life. I saw a nice restaurant up ahead of me, and once I saw it, hunger overcame me. I went up to Porco, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him to the restaurant’s entrance.

“P-pieck,” Porco said a little startled.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Just follow me, Porco.”

He was easily swayed to take into the restaurant. It was an Italian restaurant if I remembered correctly. It appeared slightly overpriced, but I’ll consider it as a small treat for Porco. 

“Are you already hungry?” Porco asked.

“Yeah, do you mind?”

“No, let’s just go in.”

“Ok.”

We entered the restaurant, but this time, I noticed the waitress was quite familiar. 

“Yelena?” I asked in shock.

“Yup that’s me. Table for how many?” she offered.

“For two only,” I said.

She got the menus and led us towards our table which was located near the back of the restaurant. I guessed this because it looked like they were at max capacity.

“Here’s your table, I’ll right back to take your order,” Yelena said while placing everything on the table.

“Have fun lovebirds,” she said while she departed from us.

From her sly statement, I could tell Porco was embarrassed. It was too obvious. You could see it all over his face, but he brushed it off. It was nice to get a reaction from him.

“Porco, what do you think so far.” 

“It’s pretty good, I wanted something to do at least.”

“Same, it’s going pretty good so far.”

“Yeah, it would be even better if we hit the bar afterward.”

“Oooh, looks like Porco wants to get drunk I see.”

“Heck yeah I do, I want to get so drunk that I can’t think or realize what I’m doing.”

“Dang, what’s stressing you out so much?”

“Nothing, I just want to feel good from time to time.”

“Okay then, what’s your favorite alcohol?”

“My favorite…..I would have to say Gin probably.”

“Gin? I thought you were more of a whiskey person.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. What’s your favorite then?”

“Classic old wine, especially the red stuff.”

“I would expect you would say that.”

“I didn’t expect you would like to drink so much,” said Porco.

“I used to do it a lot when I was a minor. Not like I’m proud of it or anything.” I replied.

“It happens sometimes. I even thought about it one time, but I stopped myself since I knew where it led to.”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t stop myself. I grabbed my first bottle and chugged it down like it was nothing.” I said with a quick pause in between my sentences.

“The only reason I stopped was because of my dad. I couldn’t buy any of my own but I paid other people to buy me some.”

“I would basically use my mom’s child support on alcohol.”

“I haven’t drunken anything in a few years because I was afraid I would relapse, but now I’m craving it.”

“Fine then, I’ll treat you to the drinks since you’re paying for the food.”

“Deal.”

We were chatting a bit when I saw Yelena coming our way.

“What can we get for you today?” she said while pouring cold water into our glasses.

“I’ll get a Risotto al Milanese,” I said to her.

“How about you Porco?” she said towards Porco.

“I’ll just take the same thing as her.”

“Alright then, I’ll bring your orders soon.”

With that, she took our menus and took off. I’m glad we already ordered, I was starting to get hungry. I looked at Porco. He still had his same face as always, but I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Porco, what are you thinking about?” I asked him.

“W-what? Nothing. It’s nothing Pieck,” he replied.

I knew something was off.

Porco’s P.O.V

I couldn’t tell her, but I could tell I was very bad at concealing it. I was embarrassed being near her. 

I couldn’t think straight. She had seen me in my worst times. She had seen me vulnerable, week, nothing like my headstrong personality. I would expect her to judge me, or look down on how weak I was.

But no. She wasn’t like the rest of the people that I’ve met. She was kind, considerate, and cool on top of that. For the little time we’ve known each other, it sure feels like we had a lifetime connection. That’s how it feels like anyways. 

And as much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t.

I looked over to her. Her face changed. She didn’t have that fun-loving face she always had. It now was a face of fear and shock. I couldn’t figure out why she was making that face. Pieck’s face was calm and happy a few seconds ago. It was my turn to wonder what was on her mind. 

“Hey Pieck, what’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Oh, nothing.” she snapped out of her gazed.

“Let me just go to the bathroom.” she excused herself while she was standing up.

Pieck’s P.O.V

I saw him. I saw him for the third time today. I knew something was off about him when I first saw him. But now, my suspicions are slowly becoming true. I’m talking about none other than the janitor. 

He was stalling in a booth on the other side of the room, but I could still clearly see him, and he could see me too. I was actually shitting my pants, but I had to keep cool. I couldn’t give him any more information with my body language. 

I forgot Porco was in front of me. I ought to guess he was questioning my sudden change in mood. I cleared my thoughts and looked at him straight in the eye. I reassured him everything was fine, although, in reality, it really wasn’t. 

I needed to find a place to think without being in the presence of another person, so I excused myself to the bathroom. There, I would be all alone and would have all the time to myself. I could think for a little while before Porco would start to get suspicious.

“Let me just go to the bathroom,” I said and left our booth.

I looked around my surroundings. I wanted to keep my awareness on the janitor dude. Make sure he wasn’t following me. I looked at him, and to my luck, he was at his seat. Actually, he seemed to be completely distracted by something, so that was to my luck. He didn’t seem focused on me, so I could continue to go to the bathroom without problems. 

I headed towards the bathroom and tried to be close to people in case something were to happen.   
It would be best if people were at least able to witness if something were to happen. Either way, I need to keep alert.

I managed to enter the bathroom without radiating suspicion. There was an empty stall available, so I took it as quickly as possible. Might as well take a piss while I’m at it. It took me a few seconds to empty my contents, and I could finally spend the rest of my time thinking.

Who was that man? Was he stalking me, or was it a pure coincidence? I doubt it, but what could be his motive. Is he from downtown Liberio? Does he have connections with my family? 

Or…..does he have something to do with my mom? What does she want?

Unlike other times, my mind wasn’t in its prime this time. I couldn’t straight, maybe due to fear completely wrecking my body. The fear I have inside doesn’t allow me to think of possibilities. It would be worse if he was armed. I would be in big shit then.

Since I was wasting too much time in the bathroom, I concluded that I couldn’t do anything but tell Porco. He would at least make me feel safer even though I wouldn’t like to admit it. I want to go home as soon as possible.

I washed my hands and left the bathroom, but once I left. I’d never imagined it would happen like this. 

I felt an arm slide around my neck which prevented me from talking or even breathing. The only thing coming out of me was a muffle. I tried to scream but the person covered my mouth with his hand.

Due to this anonymous person’s amount of strength, in seconds, he dragged me to a nearby storage room. He took me inside and threw me to the floor and then locked the door. I was shocked, I didn’t know what to do.

My dad would always tell me if something were to happen like this, my only choice was to fight, but damn, once you really experience it, you don’t know how you’re going to react. I thought I was capable of it, but I found myself surely mistaken.

Frozen was the only state I was in at the moment. I didn’t know what would happen from here. What did the man want? He came out of nowhere. I couldn’t tell from his unpredictable movements and strategies. Out of all places he chose a restaurant to assault me. 

Not just that. He must have been anticipating me going into the bathroom. There must be someone working with him that has a clear view of me. I should’ve thought of that. 

By the time I finished my thoughts, I noticed the strange-looking man walking towards me. Since my back was facing him, I couldn’t notice his actions and movements which put me at a disadvantage. I didn’t feel brave to face him.

It didn’t take him long before I felt something rise to my head. It was pointy and metallic.

Holy shit? Did he have a gun?

Panic was the only feeling at the moment. This psycho is so close to killing me and it’s giving me anxiety. I felt the tip of the gun moving a little to find its way to my head. I was in deep shit now. He was slowly getting closer to me as if he was ready to say what he wanted.

“What do you want from me?” I asked with an angry undertone to him.

“Heh, just what I was about to say,” he replied.

“Just get to the point,” I said.

“Fine then. My intention here is not to murder you, I’m just following orders from someone you might know,” he replied.

“And who may that be?”

“Your mom.”

Huh? I knew it was a possibility, but I didn’t know that it was actually true. What business could she have with me? The last time I checked she didn’t want anything with me or my dad, she was happy with the new man she found so what does she want with me.

“Why?” I asked. I didn’t know what else to ask, and now that he mentioned that he wasn’t after my blood, I felt bolder now.

“Don’t ask me. She just told me if I were to retrieve you or make you come back by your own choice, she’ll pay me a hefty amount.”

“I see, but what exactly do you want me to do? I don’t even know her address after she left.”

“You see, that’s why I’m here. To give you the damn address.”

He gave me a little slip of paper which had an address written on it. After scanning it real quick, I noticed it said “Eastern Liberio” on it. This man of hers must be making big cash to afford a house there. It’s not exactly cheap per se. 

“When does she expect me to show up, and what if I don’t want to see her?” I asked. I don’t want to see her.

After all, why would I see her after all the suffering she made me and my dad go through. The more I stay around with her, the more trouble she causes.

“Here’s the deal sweetheart. She’s not giving you a choice. I would recommend you go even just once because you know how she is. If she doesn’t get her way, she’ll get it the hard way. She’ll make your life hell.”

“And what’s the worst she can do?”

“She has connections, what else. While you have been suffering with your dad’s bills, she hooked up with some rich millionaire. Obviously, he gave her a job in a hig company, which allows her to have connections with rich and powerful people.”

“I should also mention, you’re always going to be in her sight. She has been following you and analyzing you for all these years. She knows what you do, who you meet, and what you gain. She never loses sight of you, and if you ask for my inquiry, she probably wants something for you.”

“Look girl, I don’t want anything with you. Just listen to what your mom wants to say. It might benefit you in the long run. Your mom says she’ll give you around three months to see if you visit her. I’m going to send you off back to your booth as my time here is done.”

“Okay fine, I’ll think about it but don’t guarantee it,” I said as I was getting up ready to leave the room. 

“But before I leave, I would like to know what’s your name?” 

“Magath, just refer to me like that,” he said.

“Thanks, Magath, I hope you’re able to withstand my mom.” 

“Don’t worry, at least she pays me well,” he says to me as I leave the room and shut the door.

Once I left the room, I felt lighter than in the past minutes. What a weird way to get my attention, but it didn’t result in my death. The only thing I had to worry about is how I would tell Porco about what happened. 

He would be asking why I took too long. I had to figure something out, I wasn’t going to say “oh yeah I kinda got kidnapped while I got out the bathroom and some dude took me to a sketchy room. He also pointed a gun at my head and said that my mom wanted to see me or she would do something. 

Turns out he wasn’t a bad guy even though he pointed a gun at me, he just wanted his cash. But he let me go because I said I would comply with what he wanted.”

But when he mentioned my mom, that’s what truly confused me. What does she want from me and my dad? Does she want the little to no money we have? I’m sure she’s making five times more with that husband of hers.

Does she want to blackmail me because of the mistake she made years ago? If that’s the case, I should be worried. I’m truly at a disadvantage, and it’s all her fault.

The only thing I can do now is visit her.


	11. My World Surrounds You

Pieck’s P.O.V

When I headed back to my booth, Porco looked at me as if he was waiting for a while. I could tell since he had already finished all of his food. His plate was clean, unlike mine. Mine still had a good chunk of food on it that I’ve lost appetite for.

I went to him ready to be bombarded with questions. I was planning to tell him what happened but I quickly changed my mind and decided to keep quiet. I didn’t want to bring him into affairs between me and my mom. 

“Look who decided to show up, what took you so long?” asks Porco.

“Nothing, I had a big shit that wouldn’t come out,” I lied.

“Nevermind, I didn’t need to know that.”

“You asked for it.”

I sat back down on the bench connected to my booth deciding if I should finish the food or not. It’s going to cost me a lot of money so I might as well finish the food and pretend to enjoy it. The food was really good though. 

I was enjoying my food until Porco tried to get my attention.

“Pieck, I know something else happened, I could see it on your face. Please, if anything’s wrong, tell me.” Porco pleaded.

“You’re overthinking it, Porco, nothing happened.”

“Whatever, you still up to drink afterward?” he asked.

“Yeah, my cravings haven’t gone away,” I said with an anticipating tone.

It didn’t take long before I finished my food. Yelena also came by to give us our check. The bill came out a little pricey but I was the one who insisted on coming to this place in the first place, and I promised him I would pay his bill. 

With all of our food combined, the price came out to be around $25.00 USD and I left a five-dollar tip since I felt nice and Yelena was the waitress too. It doesn’t look like that much, but for a broke college student who barely is living on the edge, it is a hefty price to pay.

I won’t care about it in a few minutes, the only thing is that I hope Porco enjoyed it. He ate it all, so I’m assuming he did enjoy the treat. He better pays for my drinks later on. I want to be so drunk.

We left the restaurant around 7:30 which was a sign that it was getting late so it would be the best choice to already start heading to the bar. After all, we have to still wake up for class tomorrow.

“Can we start heading to the bar?” I asked him.

“That was exactly what I was going to say,” he replied.

I mean, two great minds think alike.

It didn’t take long before we reached there. It wasn’t crowded like it usually was probably due to it being a weekday and people don’t think about getting drunk during school. But right now, I just want to release all the pent-up stress I have accumulated inside and no other way than drinking my ass off. 

I spotted the bar so I grabbed Porco by the arm and dragged him to the entrance. Very exquisite entrance and fancy. I opened the door to be awaited by a medieval aesthetic-looking bar. It had many seats, and even though today was considered empty, most seats were still full.

This shows how popular this place was. We didn’t hesitate to find a seat to get ourselves comfortable in. It was a cozy and homey place, somewhere where people would allow themselves to get in debt. 

Not even a few seconds after we sat, the waiter dude came over to us to ask for our drinks. Porco ordered a cheap-ass beer but since I paid for his expensive dinner, I decided to start expensive.

“Give me a cocktail please,” I ordered.

“Okay, coming right up.”

The bartender left us to get our drinks.

“Pieck, you really feel fancy today huh?” Porco initiated the conversation. 

“Yeah and what about it,” I snarked back at him although without any bad intentions.

“Nothing, you deserve it.” 

“O-oh thanks,” I stumbled on my words while I said it. I never had anyone who would say that about me. It really meant a lot. I’m glad my efforts don’t go without notice. I never knew Porco had a soft and caring side to him. Not like I was complaining.

Like always, there is that awkward silence that completely surrounds us. It’s always up to me to find a topic starter, and unfortunately, it’s starting to get harder to think of one. I thought of getting to know a little more about Porco. 

Yes, we seem to be hanging around a lot but I don’t think I know a lot about him as he knows me.

“Porco, I heard you have a deep hatred for Reiner, why is that?”

“Oh, you heard that? I mean, you were bound to hear it anyway.”

“I supposed I can tell you, there’s no harm in that.”

He took a long pause before continuing to speak.

“I’ll make it quick. Apparently, back when we were in our first year at college, Reiner and my brother, Marcel, went out one Friday to a bar. He was taking a while to come back home which caused my mom to worry. 

Turns out her worries were accurate. Not that much later, we got a call from the hospital saying that Marcel was hospitalized due to a car crash he partook in.”

“My mom and I immediately went to the hospital he was in. My mom acted very calmly and quietly and the same thing you could say about me. At that moment, I didn’t realize how serious this was. I didn’t even realize he could die. I thought he would just come back to us all in one piece. I didn’t know something as dumb as a car crash could kill him, but guess what, it did.”

“When we arrived, I saw Reiner there. I would have to guess that after my mom, he was the most distraught about it, after all, they were the closest of friends. He was shaking. And get this, he apologized. He mentioned something about that it was his fault but I never cared about it.”

“That was until the doctor came out and announced that he was dead. I was so surprised. I thought Marcel got some lenient injuries, but I never knew it would cost him his life.”

“After that announcement, I got completely mad at Reiner. Something in my head told me it was all Reiner’s fault that he died. I even started to get physical with him. I felt a strong urge of hate towards him that I couldn’t control.”

“Right now, I don’t have as much resentment as I did back then, but it’s still there, even though I don’t want to have it.”

“Dang, that must be tough. I wonder how your mom must have managed it afterward.”

“It wasn’t easy and it’s still not. Marcel had major surgeries done on him. It cost a bunch of money and on top of that, my mom had a bunch of debt from her divorce from our dad, so it wasn’t easy.”

“Even though she has been paying for over two years, she still has thousands to pay. I feel bad, I wasn’t able to help her because she said I should worry more about my studies than paying off debt.”

“If I may ask, what hospital is she indebted to?” I asked.

“I think it was something like NHS Liberio or something like that,” he said, not being completely sure of what he was saying.

“Really! That’s the one my dad goes to for his leukemia treatment.” 

“That’s pretty cool, how do you manage to pay off your bills?”

“It’s pretty hard. The issue is the debt accumulates because the treatment is something recurrent. He obviously can’t stop the treatment but it is quite pricey. The only thing I can do is donate a small amount of money every month to the hospital.”

“That’s what my mom does too, though the debt is already settled and it’s not accumulating. She deposits a section of money to the bank every month and the debt slowly starts paying off.”

“It’s the only option they give you practically.” 

Fuck. The stress took over me after I realized the situation I was in. I wasn't making any big income nor was money.

This conversation made me realize I’m living on the edge. My dad’s bills keep on piling and piling and I can’t even maintain the debt steady. The only thing increasing is the debt.

I was making minimum wage and my dad couldn’t work at all. No one hired him because of his health condition, and even so, I wouldn’t want him working anyways. I still had to wait two more years until I graduated, and I don’t even know how long it would be before I found a well-paying job.

The anxiety and desperation racked my body. At that moment I realized it wasn’t much before we were prone to homelessness. It would not help us at all. I needed to pay for his bills. He could die if I don’t. Why do people care about money so much? They care more about their salary than about saving the lives of others.

Whatever, everyone needs to make money somehow or else they will end up like me. I want to relax, to not think about anything. I wanted a feeling of comfort, I wish my life would be easier. I wish I could be making a good income. What better way to relax than beer?

“Give me a beer,” I said with a demanding tone, maybe a bit rude but I didn’t mind. 

“All right, coming right up,” he said while pouring my beer.

After the one beer I drank, I couldn’t stop, it felt addicting. I wanted more and more until I couldn’t think straight, until I was completely engulfed by the alcohol. I just asked for more, especially stronger alcohol drinks despite the complaint of the person at my side.

“Hey Pieck, you should probably stop, you’ve already had five drinks,” Porco said. 

“Huuuh, nooo I wa*hic*nt more.”

Porco’s P.O.V

Holy crap! She was already drunk. It hasn’t even been an hour and she’s already devouring herself with the liquid substance. I forced her to stop, but she wouldn’t budge. It was kinda getting on my nerves at how much she was drinking. 

The bill was going to come out real expensive.

I looked over to her, completely drunk. Totally engulfing herself in beer. I don’t even remember how many drinks she has ordered already. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had already reached her tenth cup already. It was truly a shocking scene.

I couldn’t take it much longer so I did the only thing I could think of, grabbing her by the arm. I grabbed her by the arm expecting to pull her away easily, but she surprisingly resisted. I used more force to pull her which eventually I did despite her complaints.

“What the fuck are you doing Porco!”

“You’re drowning yourself in alcohol, you need to stop now!”

“But it takes all my pain away, I want more!”

Then something happened that I didn’t expect would ever happen, she started crying. I never have seen her in such a state, I didn’t think how it would come to this. I never really did know how to react like this, but the only idea that came to my head was to pull her into a hug.

When I pulled her in, she was a sobbing mess. She kept on crying and muffling her sobs in my chest. Even so, I could feel my clothes getting wet, but I didn’t complain. Unlike myself, she was complaining a lot and causing a lot of ruckus. 

Even though I didn’t mind, I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of the entire bar. It wasn’t until I took a second to realize what she was talking about. She kept on mentioning if her father’s debt kept on increasing, there was a possibility they could go into homelessness.

I felt bad. Someone at her age shouldn’t be worrying about not having enough money to pay basic necessities, hell, she even paid for my food even though she probably knew she was living on the edge. I couldn’t help but have pity.

After bawling her eyes out, I could sense she was getting tired. Her sobs calmed down and her eyes were getting droopy. Before I knew it, she lumped on top of me, realising all of her dead weight on me. Luckily, she wasn’t heavy at all so I could easily take her out of the store.

I grabbed her belongings since she didn’t have consciousness to grab it herself. I pushed her up my back and started heading towards the door. Before I left, I made sure to pay the bartender just to make sure this won't cause problems. 

I took her to the front seat and laid her gently without trying to wake her up. Pretty easy, she seems like a heavy sleeper, as a matter of fact, she looks really peaceful. I wouldn’t want to ruin that. 

I put her stuff next to her and then shut the door. I walk over to the driver’s seat to drive back to our dorms. The engine commenced and I started driving back to the flat. I noticed around this time, more people were out. It’d make sense, especially in a college town.

You could see restaurants full of people partying, even if today was a weekday. People are always going to party, especially college students. They love to get drunk, especially the girl to my side.

She was peaceful, compared to how she was reacting a few minutes ago. I enjoyed this side of her. Yes, she was usually nice and easy-going but never did I see her calm down and relax. I would slightly glance to see her delicate features. It gave me a sense of happiness.

Our dorms weren’t that far away, before I knew it, I was already stationing my car in the garage spot designated to me. I’m glad we didn’t spend too much time out because we still had to wake up for school tomorrow.

I had to carry Pieck all the way upstairs. I would pretty much be an easy task, to my luck. I grabbed her stuff with one of my hands and slid my arms under her legs and pushed her upwards. I locked my door and started heading towards the entrance.

Once I entered, I saw that the elevator was awaiting me. I quietly walked over there, entering, then waiting for it to take me to my destination. 

When it opened, I rearranged Pieck on my back and walked towards our rooms. I thought it would be as easy as her keys were ought to be around in her purse somewhere.

I was arriving at her room when I found something strange. An old man. He probably wasn’t that much taller than Pieck.

I was suspicious. Why would an old man be stalling no outside her dorm? How long has he been standing there? Was he after Pieck, or was he waiting for her to arrive?

If that’s the case, it would probably be best if I took her to my room just to be safe. I wouldn’t sleep correctly if something were to happen to her.

The only thing I could do was confront the man. In all honesty, I wasn’t afraid nor feeling anything like that.

The old man was short, scrawny, and had a sickly vibe to him. In fact, the more I viewed him more, the more I noticed something striking about him.

He had almost the same features as Pieck.

In fact, I wouldn’t have guessed they were two different people if it weren’t for him being a male and a lot older.

Could this be her dad that I saw in that photo she had? It looked very similar to the photo. The only difference was that he seemed a lot slimmer than from the photo. Probably the effects of the leukemia treatment.

“Um, hello sir. May I ask what are you doing outside of Pieck’s dorm?” I decided to approach him.

“O-oh so you know Pieck, do you know where she is?”

“Oh yeah, she’s here on my back,” I said while turning around to show her passed-out daughter.

“Goodness, what happened to her?” He asked with concern in his tone.

“Nothing serious. She just went a little overboard with the beer,” I said to calm his anxiety.

He calmed down a little. If this man was her dad, it wouldn’t be best if he stressed out too much.

“Could I ask you who you are and what you’re doing here?”

“Sorry if I didn’t introduce myself earlier. I’m Pieck‘s father, Mr. Finger. Nice to meet you. Could I ask who you are?” He asked with a very sweet tone, just like his daughter.

“ I’m Porco, Porco Galliard, and I’m Pieck’s closest friend and I actually live right next to her,” I said while pointing towards my door.

“Nice to meet you, Porco. I came here because I wanted to visit my daughter. I haven’t seen her ever since she entered college, so I guessed it would’ve been good to come.”

“I wanted to give her a surprise visit, but it looks like she already had plans. It also looked like she spent it irresponsibly.”

“Don’t worry. It looked like something was really stressing her out and she needed to relax someway. If anything were to happen to her, I would’ve protected her.”

“I’m sincerely grateful, Porco. You don’t know how much I stress about my daughter being alone and risking her getting assaulted at night or something.”

“I used to be able to protect her, but with the treatment and everything, I’ve become quite weak. I’m glad she has someone like you.”

“Don’t worry sir. She would’ve done the same to me.”

“I should probably take her to her room so she can sleep. Is that fine with you? I’ll just go in and drop her on the bed.”

“Uh yes, that’s okay. I would also like to ask you a favor. I would like to talk to you about something, so could you please meet me back outside when you are done.”

“Um, sure, you are free to come inside my dorm so you don’t freeze outside,” I said to him while opening my door and then Pieck’s.

“Right, again, thank you very much,” he said while walking towards my room.

I went into her room. It was just like the last time I visited, normal, but enjoyable. Her bed was perfectly made as if it were waiting for her.

I laid her down and tried to find a blanket so she wouldn’t freeze. She had one lying on her chair so I just grabbed that and put it on her.

I left that room and locked it to make sure nothing would happen. I don’t even know if she would be well enough to go to school tomorrow. 

She drank like a horse today, so I don’t think the hangover is going to be fun. I wish her the best.

I wonder what her dad wanted to speak to me about. It was kinda strange, but I went along. It wasn’t that late, and I didn’t have anything better to do, so I complied with what he asked.

When I entered my room, I noticed he found his way to my small dining table.

“Sorry, sir if I took too long. So what did you want to tell me?”

“Are you Pieck’s most trusted friend?”

“I guess so. We pretty much are together every second of the day, so yeah.”

“Look, you can decline if you want, but I want to ask you a favor.”

“Pieck has so much stress these days, especially with my medical bills and issues with her mother. On top of that, she has to worry about school.”

“I’m not asking you to do much, but I beg you to take care of her. Whenever she has too many things to worry about, she never considers her a priority.”

“I’m not capable of doing anything in my state, so I ask you to please look over her in my presence. As I mentioned before, you are free to decline, but please consider.”

“No problem Mr. Finger, as I stated before, she would’ve done the same for me,” I reassured him.

He had a happy face, a relieved one. Poor man. The only thing he wanted was for his daughter to be safe, and as much as she was strong, even the strongest needed protection.


End file.
